Nano accuses Coinbase of trademark infringement

The American cryptocurrency platform was named as a defendant in a complaint filed by NanoLabs.

A virtual currency exchange run by Brian Armstrong has been accused of trademark infringement by offering the Nano Bitcoin and Nano Ether futures contract. The complaint was made by NanoLabs, claiming that it had suffered economic damage and that its brand identity had been genuinely and irreparably weakened.

Coinbase accused of trademark infringement

The lawsuit, which went to the District Court of Northern California, shows that the Nano Bitcoin and Nano Ether futures contract offered by the Coinbase cryptocurrency exchange infringed the rights to trademarks that belong to NanoLabs.

The complaint stated that the said action caused a number of economic damages and significantly weakened the image of the brand. Moreover, the plaintiff pointed out that the weakening of identity was irreversible.

The Nano cryptocurrency began its history in 2014. It was originally called RaiBlocks. In January 2018, it was changed to its current form. In turn, in June last year, the Coinbase platform launched the Nano Bitcoin futures contract, followed in August of the same year by the Nano Ether futures contract.

In the lawsuit, NanoLabs strongly emphasized that the products offered by the aforementioned cryptocurrency exchange are derivatives based on BTC and ETH, identical or very similar to the Nano cryptocurrency. Next, the company noted that Coinbase was fully aware of the existence of a virtual currency by that name before launching its futures due to correspondence between the two companies dating back to 2018.

The lawsuit states that various department heads, as well as directors of the exchange, were well acquainted with the Nano cryptocurrency. Moreover, according to the plaintiff, offering an investment product with a similar name could cause significant confusion among consumers. NanoLabs has asked the court to issue an injunction to stop the use of the word "Nano", as well as all related trademarks and domain names of a similar nature.

The plaintiff demanded that Coinbase pay $5 million in damages, as well as rectify and remove all material infringing the Nano trademark. The accused exchange has not yet commented on these claims.