New trademark registered in Russia: Bitcoin

A number of companies for several years tried to register the word “Bitcoin” in Russia. Most of the applicants planned to use the registered trademark for profit. So, the first application was filed by LLC M-Group on December 12, 2013. The second application, as far as can be judged, was filed in the same December 2013 by the administration of the Master Bank. In March of this year, it became known that the application of LLC M-Group was rejected by Rospatent, but the application of LLC Intelprom was withdrawn by the applicant.

There were other attempts - for example, in 2014, the same trademark tried to register Doka LLC from Novosibirsk, but in this case a refusal was received, Bitcoin Security writes . Recently it became known that this trademark was still able to be registered by someone. And this “someone” is Bitcoin LLC, with registration in Moscow. There are more interesting details.

The head of this organization is Alex Fork, the head of the Blockchain Community and the Fintech accelerator Future Fintech . Fork has already stated that he does not plan to use the trademark for commercial purposes. On the contrary, the acquisition of rights to the brand was implemented to prevent the monopolization of the trademark in the same hands for the purpose of making a profit.
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“I was not sure that this attempt will succeed. But now I want to publicly announce that the business can safely use the word "Bitcoin", without fear of "patent trolling" on my part. This goodwill gesture is aimed at developing the industry, ”says Alex Fork himself, commenting on the event.

In an interview with Bitcoin Security online media, he also confirmed that Bitcoin LLC will not prosecute anyone for using a trademark in Russia.

As for the patent application of Bitcoin LLC, it covers several classes at once, including the 36th class of ICGS, the 9th class (in terms of computer equipment and computer programs), the 35th class (in terms of services related to payment systems and databases ) and the 41st class (organization of events).

Natalya Zhuravleva, patent attorney at Brendlex, commented on the issuance of a Bitcoin trademark certificate as follows: “... the original purpose of obtaining a trademark certificate, and accordingly obtaining a monopoly on the designation from the copyright holder, was somewhat non-classical. Having received the exclusive right to designation, the copyright holder does not intend to use the authority to prohibit the use of its trademark by third parties. The purpose of obtaining a certificate was the impossibility of obtaining a monopoly on designation by unscrupulous competitors in this or similar areas that could interfere with the usual provision of services to organizations involved in cryptocurrency, which require the use of the word "Bitcoin" in daily activities. Such use of the trademark is completely legitimate and will meet the above stated intentions of the right holder. "