NanoLabs Files $5 Million Lawsuit against Coinbase over Nano Trademark

NanoLabs, a
cryptocurrency company and the Nano (NANO) token issuer, has launched a lawsuit
over the alleged infringement of its trademarks. Coinbase, one of the world’s
largest cryptocurrency exchanges, is named as a defendant.NanoLabs Hit Coinbase with
Potential Trademark LawsuitIn a document
filed in a Northern California District Court on 24 February 2023, the NANO
issuer alleges that the <a href=”https://www.financemagnates.com/terms/e/exchange/” class=”terms__main-term” id=”b5da6e64-2afe-421d-9b81-16404b7d59d6″ target=”_blank”>exchange</a>’s Nano Bitcoin and Nano Ether futures contract
products, which Coinbase has been offering since June 2022, infringe on
trademark rights owned by Nano Labs.The similarity
in naming, according to NanoLabs, was expected to lead to economic damage and
undermine the brand’s market identity. NANO tokens are currently valued at less
than one dollar, and the market capitalization of the entire network is $121
million. However, the network’s activity is presently shallow and daily volumes
do not exceed one million dollars. Development
of the project began in 2014 under the name <a href=”https://www.financemagnates.com/cryptocurrency/news/class-action-lawsuit-seeks-court-ordered-hard-fork/” target=”_blank” rel=”follow”>RaiBlocks</a>. In January 2018, the
Founder and CEO of NanoLabs decided to rebrand and change it to Nano.
Coinbase’s futures offering, called Nano, on the other hand, appeared on the
market in 2022.<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”>Coinbase Derivatives Exchange has launched Nano <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/Bitcoin?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#Bitcoin</a> Futures. Here are the brokers we’ve partnered with for you to trade it: <a href=”https://twitter.com/Tradovate?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@Tradovate</a><a href=”https://twitter.com/NinjaTrader?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@NinjaTrader</a><a href=”https://twitter.com/IronbeamFutures?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@IronbeamFutures</a><a href=”https://twitter.com/RealEdgeClear?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@RealEdgeClear</a><a href=”https://twitter.com/S5Trading?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@S5Trading</a><a href=”https://twitter.com/optimusfutures?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@optimusfutures</a> <a href=”https://t.co/jDD23hC1iv”>pic.twitter.com/jDD23hC1iv</a>— Coinbase (@coinbase) <a href=”https://twitter.com/coinbase/status/1542180356589326338?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>June 29, 2022</a></blockquote>”Defendants
did not begin using the Nano <a href=”https://www.financemagnates.com/tag/bitcoin/” target=”_blank” rel=”follow”>Bitcoin </a>and Ether Marks on or in connection with
any goods or services until 27 June 2022, several years after Plaintiff had
established its Nano Marks and related goodwill in the Nano Digital
Currency,” the court document stated.In the
indictment, NanoLabs states that the products offered by the exchange are
“identical or highly similar types of offerings as Plaintiff’s digital
currency.” Additionally, the company believes that Coinbase is targeting a
similar group of customers, hurting NanoLabs’ business.Watch the recent FMLS22 Executive Interview with Lory Kehoe, the Director of EMEA Business Development at Coinbase.NanoLabs Wants $5 Million
from CoinbaseJudicial
representatives of NanoLabs want the court to start a jury trial for the
alleged infringements by Coinbase and award the company a minimum of $5 million
in damages for trademark infringement.In
addition, the NANO issuer wants Coinbase to stop using the word Nano and the
Nano trademarks by the exchange and related when promoting and selling cryptos
or crypto products. NanoLabs also wants the exchange to engage in corrective
advertising to restore the value of NANO’s intellectual property.The complete
list of claims is available below:Coinbase Pays a Fine in the
NetherlandsNanoLabs’
lawsuit is not the only legal issue on Coinbase’s shoulders. The leading
digital assets exchange <a href=”https://www.financemagnates.com/cryptocurrency/first-binance-and-now-coinbase-have-both-been-fined-33m-in-netherlands/” target=”_blank” rel=”follow”>has been slapped</a> with a hefty $3.3 million fine by the
Dutch central bank, De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB). According
to the DNB’s press release from January, the fine was imposed due to
unauthorized crypto activities at the Coinbase exchange from November 2020
until at least 24 August 2022. Coinbase Europe Limited, the European subsidiary
of Coinbase, has been operating without registration in the Netherlands. Previously, the Dutch
central bank had imposed a registration requirement on all
cryptocurrency service providers in May of the same year, citing the high risk
of <a href=”https://www.financemagnates.com/terms/m/money-laundering/” class=”terms__secondary-term” id=”f30ffb65-351e-44d6-9dae-0714f08b59b2″ target=”_blank”>money laundering</a> and terrorist financing.A fine of
an identical amount was paid a few months earlier by its rival platform <a href=”https://www.financemagnates.com/tag/binance/” target=”_blank” rel=”follow”>Binance</a>.