Digital payments company Block Inc. has sued Bitcoin.com for Roger Ver for alleged trademark infringement related to its newly launched Verse token, which completed a $33.6 million private sale in May 2022. I am filing a lawsuit.
In a letter to Bitcoin.com CEO Dennis Jarvis and the company’s legal counsel Joseph Collement, a lawyer representing Block said Bitcoin.com’s use of “Verse” is based on German trademark law. Alleged trademark infringement. The letter, dated 10 August 2022, is a follow-up to the notice of 4 July 2022, in which Block’s legal counsel, Bird & Bird, first presented a trademark infringement lawsuit in Germany. A person familiar with the matter shared the letter with Cointelegraph.
The alleged trademark infringement stems from Block’s 2020 acquisition of Verse Technologies Inc. and Decentralized Global Payments SL. Our client has been running this app since the takeover,” the letter read.
Block’s attorneys explained that the “VERSE” app is available in Europe, including Germany, and can be accessed on both Apple and Android devices. The letter details figurative trademarks containing the word “Verse” and block rights containing the word mark “VERSE”, with priority given to computer and application software for mobile devices.
The use of the name ‘VERSE’ constitutes an infringement of the client’s trademark under German trademark law, the letter concludes, adding:
Therefore, our client is insisting on you to cease and cease infringing activity. In addition, our client requests information regarding the scope of infringing activity and, as a result of infringement, the client’s We are making a claim for compensation for all damages suffered or may be suffered by our client.Finally, our client is also entitled to reimbursement of the costs incurred by us in connection with this letter. .”
Block’s attorneys have required Bitcoin.com to sign a cease and desist declaration or take further legal action by August 17, 2022. It also demanded that Bitcoin.com “stop” operating the Verse token in the European Union or face a contractual penalty of $10,400 (10,000) “for each case of violation.” It also requested reimbursement of $3,906.54 (3,744.50 euros) in legal fees.
Bitcoin.com was the early Bitcoin (BitcoinInvestor Roger Ver, who was CEO until August 1, 2019. Many in the cryptocurrency community know that Ver has strong support for Bitcoin Cash (BCHMore), coming in 2017 After leaving Bitcoin’s original blockchain This is due to philosophical differences regarding scalability and transaction speed. However, its proponents believe that BCH is more in line with the Bitcoin vision set out in Satoshi Nakamoto’s 2008 whitepaper.
Founded in 2009 by Jack Dorsey, Block rebranded from Square As of December 2021, its focus has shifted to blockchain technology and Bitcoin. Dorsey has become more focused Since then, Bitcoin hardware and payment solutions Twitter CEO resigns November 2021.
Related: Get Your Money Back: The Strange World of Crypto Lawsuits
Ver and Dorsey have been involved in personal disputes over the years, including in 2019 when Ver accused Dorsey of endorsing the Lightning Network. Lightning Labs CEO Elizabeth StarkSome have speculated that these personal issues were the reason why Twitter never confirmed Bitcoin.com’s handle when Dorsey was CEO.
my theory about why @Jack unreasonably hot #LightningNetwork because he has/had a romantic relationship @StarknessCEO @Thunder
Roger Ver (@rogerkver) August 10, 2019
The Verse token, which is at the center of the legal battle, is publicly promoted on Bitcoin.com’s Twitter page. Verse is described by its creator as a cross-chain token focused on expanding to his low-fee Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) chain. There is a fixed supply of 210 billion tokens distributed over 7 years. A private sale completed last May raised $33.6 million.