Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has been hit with a lawsuit filed by NanoLabs, the company behind the digital currency NANO. NanoLabs alleges that Coinbase’s Nano Bitcoin and Nano Ether futures contract products infringe on its trademark rights. In a complaint filed with the California Northern District Court, NanoLabs claims that the infringement has caused “actual damage and irreparable harm” to its brand identity and economic detriment.
The company is seeking at least $5 million in damages, an injunction against Coinbase to stop them from using the word “Nano” and all associated trademarks and domain names, corrective advertising, destruction of all materials infringing on the Nano trademark, and forfeiture of all profits made by Coinbase using Nano trademarks.
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Coinbase’s Nano futures products
NanoLabs argued that Coinbase’s Nano Bitcoin and Nano Ether futures contract products are “derivative products” based on Bitcoin and Ethereum, respectively, which are “identical or highly similar” to Nano. The company also claimed that Coinbase targets the same type of consumers as NanoLabs and that the trademarks for Coinbase’s products “are identical, and confusingly similar,” to NanoLabs.
NanoLabs further claimed that Coinbase had full knowledge of the Nano digital currency before launching its products due to correspondence between the two companies starting in 2018. The complaint alleged that Coinbase denied NanoLabs’ application to list Nano on Coinbase, and therefore, Coinbase should have known that offering Nano Bitcoin on the Coinbase Derivates Exchange would only further consumer confusion.
Potential outcome of the lawsuit
NanoLabs is seeking an injunction against Coinbase to stop them from using the word “Nano” and all associated trademarks and domain names of a similar nature. The company is also seeking damages, corrective advertising, destruction of all materials infringing on the Nano trademark, and forfeiture of all profits Coinbase made using Nano trademarks. If the court rules in favor of NanoLabs, Coinbase may be required to change the name of its Nano futures products and potentially pay damages to NanoLabs.
