In a world that tries to capitalize on anything, companies are out to control others just like governments do. Even if someone didn't create or produce something themselves, they can still lay claim over it. Companies can claim trademarks for things they didn't even invent. And that's what is happening with the 'Bitcoin' name.
Source
A UK company called A.B.C. IPHoldings South West LLC (a subsidiary of Monolip LTD with only a PO Box to show for itself) obtained a trademark on 'Bitcoin' in April, and has recently used it to threaten a lawsuit on an Etsy business that sells shirts with Bitcoin symbols and imagery.
The so-called "owners" of the trademark are trying to force this business to recall all previously sold bitcoin-related products, send them to the trademark "owner", and and remove all bitcoin merchandise from their Etsy store. If they don't, a trademark lawsuit will result.
This company is dirty and rotten to think they can own a logo that is public domain. They also applied for another trademark: "Westworld" (from the HBO series). As if you can simply own what someone else created. What a twisted crapshoot of an IP system we have, where people claim ownership of a brand/mark even when they didn't invent it, and they can be granted it.
If you go to the Global Brand Database and search for 'bitcoin', you will see that 289 companies are the 'holders' of trademarks on 'Bitcoin' (unless I'm misunderstanding the data). What a bunch of confused power-hungry idiots trying to control the use of a word that they didn't even create.
In the U.S., previous claims on the 'Bitcoin' brand have been rejected by the US Patent and Trademark Office when a California company tried to claim it. But companies have been granted trademarks that include the word 'Bitcoin'.
Bitcoin has gained popularity in recent years. It's beginning to be seen as a symbol of wealth and being "in the know", ahead of the curve, maybe even as being 'elite'. Companies want to look "cool" by using the name, it's understandable. But to think you can own the trademark 'Bitcoin' is just ridiculous. That doesn't stop greedy pricks from trying though.
References:
- UK Company Acquires ‘Bitcoin’ Trademark, Allegedly Threatens Etsy Store over BTC-themed Items
- UK Company Managed to Acquire the ‘Bitcoin’ Trademark
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I hereby claim the word blockchain.
You will be hearing from my lawyer.
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LOL, everyone is fucked now!
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Just shows how this current system of ours has created so many ‘rent seekers’! People who add no value and are looking to extract a quick buck without contributing! These people really have no shame and no class
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Yup, similar to some on Steem :P ;) hehe
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Unbelievable lol. As you mention, the bitcoin logo really is in the public domain, so I'm not sure what kind of rights they have.
Even if they have somehow managed to gain access to the word 'bitcoin' as a trademark (in the UK), it shouldn't give them the right to sue someone for using the (public domain) image.
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Yeah, people are so confused about what is right vs. wrong.. :/
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Yeah, people are so confused about what is right vs. wrong.. :/
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there was great news sir @krnel . the people should know the news about bitcoin.
thank you so much for shearing the post and your hard work.
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WA uk company has clime Bitcoin is great Sir If it is a very good news, news has shared with us thanks to share with us,@krnel
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This is a very great news, thanks for sharing with us sir @krnel
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Did you even read it. There's no great news in there.
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Probably not lol
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Unbelievable. In US there are many companies use BITCOIN trademark !!!
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Those companies are run my morons if they think that just holding the name will do them any good. Look at long blockchain. They had a perfectly good name. But screwed up that getting after hype.
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The trademark database page shows about 60 active trademarks for that name. Trademarks are awarded in relation to specific product classes - so one company might have the trademark for bitcoin in relation to t-shirts and another might have it in relation to financial services.. and so on.
There might just be room for a trademark application for Bitcoin toilet paper.. wish me luck!
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I was reading about this yesterday. Seriously though, the greed and entitlement is endless.
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I was reading about this yesterday. Seriously though, the greed and entitlement is endless.
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This really shows the lengths some individuals will go to get something for nothing. If people would put that much effort into becoming part of the community as opposed to creating a profiteering scam its hard to tell how far they could actually go. potential wasted as far as I'm concerned. Let them fail horribly, unfortunately, that's the only way some people learn.
As always @krnel, thanks for sharing..
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Talk about greed. It has no limits with these ridiculous people. Pretty soon there will be copyrights on almost every common word. For once the United States had some, keyword some, sense in the matter and wouldn’t let people do something so ridiculous.
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288 of them are power-hungry idiots. 1 has ~1.2 million Bitcoin tucked away saying "damn, knew I forgot to do something."
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I released an app in Apple's App Store in 2010, way back when there were only 100,000 apps that existed. It was called Real Date Wheel, and it was a functional datewheel that you could rotate the wheel to determine a future date when for instance your injection molding or stamping tool would be built; essentially a project management tool that existed in physical form for a long time. Here's a picture of what a date wheel looks like.
(
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eprintcalendar.com
I was contacted by a woman who claimed I was infringing on her trademark for Date Wheel. I was using Real (TM) Date Wheel. She claimed that by using the word real, I was implying her software solution wasn't real. I nearly fell out of my chair.
I wrote two letters that shut her down. I had previously studied to take the patent bar exam, so I have a mind for intellectual property and spent $180K on personal patents as well. I knew you cannot trademark a common word or phrase.
Unless this company applied for the trademark before the 2009 white paper, bitcoin has become a common word in the lexicon and therefore can't be trademarked. I highly doubt this frivolous case will stand up in court. But it's no surprise some lazy and greedy company wants to capitalize on this.
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This sounds lot like patent trolling
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