Bitcoin Forum

bitcoin.org is owned by bitcoin developers.
bitcoin.com is owned by person/people who provide bitcoin services.

But who owns the "Bitcoin" brand?

Bitcoin is a popular open source project with MIT license. It's a community brand but I don't know for sure if anyone could apply for Bitcoin as brand. Bitcoin.org acts as the reference site for Bitcoin but it's still a privately registered domain so is bitcoin.com

bitcoin.com is actually anti current bitcoin btc technology. they forked off to bch -  bitcoin cash, and they are trying to push it as the real bitcoin. obviously with their hashrate and usage, it is laughable. also they have r/btc on reddit. real bitcoin group is r/bitcoin.

just fyi

Just quick search on google and I found this

The original and the only domain Satoshi Nakamoto registered but it is now controlled by Cobra.

‎Roger Ver‎ owns this domain and it is not even BTCitcoin related  ;).

Basically no one until Satoshi comes back and claims his work :P .

But the way it seems no other project or business can use that term "Bitcoin" because it looks like already a trademark for btc, even though not official, it will be very weird for another brand to use now, everyone is already aware of bitcoin and btc as its ticker,
I don't think it is appropriate for anyone to use it now, just my opinion.

Bitcoin is not a company,so the name Bitcoin can't be considered a brand.Bitcoin is a currency.Can the other currencies (fiat and crypto) be considered as brands?Nobody is talking about whether or not the US dollar is a brand or who owns the term euro,because it would sound absurd.
The altcoin fork scammers took advantage of this situation and made several "Bitcoin"(BCH,BSV,Bitcoingold,etc..) projects that aren't actually Bitcoin.We can't do anything about that. :(

None so far but there's an identity thief a.k.a Craig Wright that filed for a copyright for the original Bitcoin whitepaper and for the source codes. I won't be surprised if he does it for the Bitcoin word too.


Bitcoin doesn't need to be a company to be trademarked. Anyone can file for a trademark even if it's just a word. Ask how Pat Riley did it for the "Three-Peat".

I thought Mark Karpeles had something to do with trademarks at some point and this seems to confirm it - https://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2014/05/28/mt-gox-operator-looks-to-sell-bitcoin-trademarks/

I'm not sure what powers or rights it actually gave him or where. He is of course long gone now. Couldn't think of a more responsible custodian so let's get him back on board.

I'd rather call Bitcoin public. It is owned by everyone. I think it should not be registered by a particular company or person as a trademark. 

Here is an interesting article I found online. https://news.bitcoin.com/a-london-based-company-successfully-trademarks-the-name-bitcoin/

There was actually a firm that trademarked Bitcoin in the UK. That was a selfish move that repulsed the Bitcoin community.

"UK-based firm called ‘A.B.C. IPHoldings South West’ has successfully acquired a trademark for the name ‘Bitcoin’."

“The Bitcoin Foundation believes that the term “Bitcoin” alone should not be the intellectual property of any individual or entity"

I do not think that at least someone owns this trademark, and is unlikely to ever own it.

its an opensource so no one which is why anyone can fork BTC for whatever editions they can make, no one can stop them from doing so. so many domains today with the word "bitcoin" on it or BTC but no one nor the team can file a case against them since its their right and after all its opensource.

if CW will successfully prove he is satoshi which i doubt he can, he may actually file a trademark for BTC and all those who uses "bitcoin" in any brand they promote may face infringement. well it wont happen.

And if you're wondering about the Bitcoin Logo (BTC), it is part of a public domain:

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bitcoin_logo.svg


Interesting to note that that the trademarks will expire in 2021 in EU and 2022 in Japan. And we don't know if Mark Karpeles will renew it or not.

Bitcoin is not a brand. Though I guess if you wore the bitcoin logo on a shirt you could call it bitcoin branding so maybe I am wrong? It certainly is not a brand in the traditional sense of a franchise like cooperation.
Bitcoin is owned by no one and thus everyone... I know that doesn't make sense I did that on purpose and say that because we all own bitcoin, each one of us helps the network in some small way and even just holding bitcoin gives you a piece of the pie. Bitcoin is for the people and belongs to us all.

As we all know bitcoin was made by Satoshi, but I still search it on google, who owns the bitcoin.
Actually, I don't know if I answered correctly your question, is bitcoin and bitcoin trade mark different? As I have a search on google bitcoin trademark also made by Satoshi but other sources say that it has made by some countries.

I don't think that for protwcting trademark is relwvant that Bitcoin is a currency. Anything could be protected with trademark just needs to be registered as such. Although that depends on legal system of the country where you want to do it.
However, I don't think that Satoshi or someone else has registered and protected Bitcoin trademark.

bitcoin is not company, nor a trademark, nor a brand. bitcoin is a concept and a set of clearly defined rules. and when the majority of people agree on these set of rules the result of it becomes bitcoin. if the majority choose to agree on another set of rules or change parts of the currently existing rules then the new agreed upon rules become bitcoin.
so in many ways we can say the entire decentralized network of bitcoin own the name "Bitcoin" as they define it.

A currency is not a society that can be considered a brand. A currency is a currency. It is not even known for sure who invented it. It is believed to be a certain Satoshi Nakamoto.
Bitcoin is a "brand", if you will, owned by us investors. No one has mastered it so far, so it is ours, everyone's and it is the main reason why we love cryptocurrency.

Your question is surprisingly difficult, and anyone who isn't a lawyer won't give you a full answer. Here's some links if you want to do some research:

https://google.github.io/opencasebook/trademarks/

https://www.onecommunityglobal.org/open-source-trademarking-copyrights/

I don't know much about laws, but from what I understand, a trademark is not the same as intellectual property, and its main goal is actually protecting consumers from fraud rather than giving more control to owners.

Mark Karpeles trademarked "BITCOIN" in the E.U. and Japan for some kinds of equipment, as well as IT and telecom services in 2011: https://euipo.europa.eu/eSearch/#details/trademarks/010103646

"BITCOIN" is trademarked in the U.K. for clothing and beverages: https://trademarks.ipo.gov.uk/ipo-tmcase/page/Results/1/UK00003279106

There was an attempt to trademark "BITCOIN" in the U.S. for bar glassware and utensils in 2013, but it was abandoned after being challenged: https://trademarks.justia.com/861/35/bitcoin-86135516.html

Right now, no one owns Bitcoin trademark. Back in 2018 Craig Wright filled application for Bitcoin trademark but he didn't gain it despite the fact that he still tries hardly, a person who was even caught in plagiarism while working on his PHD.
So feel safe, no one will ever own bitcoin trademark.

And bitcoin.org is owned by one man, nickname here - Cøbra. You can check this thread for more details: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5241347

Despite the fact that bitcoin.com sounds like to be an official domain or something similar in terms, this website is against bitcoin and promotes BCH, personal business.

I don't think the way you're seeing it is how it's really meant to be. Bitcoin is an open source and no one really owns it, unless you will Satoshi Nakamoto, since he's the original inventor of Bitcoin, but he's nowhere to be found and I believe he has made up his mind to stay just like that without revealing his identity. I see a lot of people who make use of the Bitcoin logo and they don't even ask for any permission to make use of it.

Some have printed it on t-shirts and they did this without having to ask for permission from anyone. So, it is owned by the community I guess, and it is a free world here. When no one asks for copyrights nor kind of any patents, those things will remain free to use as per my understanding from this wiki article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patent.

If the man/entity named Satoshi Nakamoto who is widely believed to have created Bitcoin as a pioneer crypto isn't revealing himself, I believe knowing who has a trademark ownership of the Bitcoin Brand shouldn't be a concern. Anyone can freely use it and it is backed up by law. There's nothing illegal using that brand name. There isn't any copyrights infringement on it.

Bitcoin is a type of cryptocurrency, an asset which most of the public could pretty much obtain. It isn't a type of product for sale nor is it registered by a private company. It is a literal for all type of crypto, hence I don't think the Bitcoin trademark could be said as a "trademark". Yes, the Bitcoin logo could be said to be its trademark, but it isn't like Bitcoin is backed by a company or something. Even it's creator made it for public use freely without anyone being able to govern it, hence it can't really be considered as a trademark. Simply stating, Bitcoin is far too generic for someone to trademark it.

You can also try looking up how Mt.Gox try to enforce ownership with regards to the Bitcoin trademark. If iirc, they pretty much forced the idea of Bitcoin as a trademark and that they themselves own it. Not sure, correct me if I'm wrong though.

The only one who created the bitcoin is responsible for their logo and he is Satoshi Nakamoto and also the owner of this forum too. The logo is one of the best representatives to the brand because it is easier for the people to remember the item, product, and the quality of their services. Now the logo of the bitcoin is become popular because of the world of technology and innovation of adopting the use of bitcoin for every transaction because of being efficient and effective of it on the world of market.


Unlike the other trade mark the bitcoin does not require any kind of payment if they want to use it because it is freely open to the public.

IMO, nobody owns Bitcoin or any Bitcoin trademark because owning a trademark needs to have legal registration before he or they can start using the trademark and once they were able to process the registration then the rest will no longer be legit. Bitcoin is a currency that can't be own solely by someone if you have a Bitcoin as I do then both of us own a bitcoin.

If someone would claim that he owns the Bitcoin so what will happen next are we going to give each and every Bitcoin that we have since he claims that he owns the Bitcoin, no that will never happen it is just like fiat money that when you earn it then it is yours even the central bank or the government couldn't take it from you same as with Bitcoin we own whatever the amount that we have and no one can claim that they own it.