use of bitcoin trademark?

[qwerty555]

from reading previous posts I understand that Mtgox is the owner of bitcoin trademark

when using this in a product  like a medallion or chocolate coin or advertising does Mtgox require that the user seeks permission first?

Are fees or royalties due for such use?

[dadj]

No, the main reason they trademarked it was to stop legal trolls from suing legitimate Bitcoin businesses.

[odolvlobo]

It is a little odd. It would seem to me that you can't claim a commonly used image or term as a trademark.

[qwerty555]

so to be clear

1 Although they have ownership of the trademark they do not charge royalties or seen fees or licenses from users

2 This is current PRACTICE but is not set in stone or in a legal document and could change in the future..particularly if mtgox is sold , abuses are made or it is seen that somebody is making a fortune from free use of the trademark?

3 The community accept this situation and do not ask for a guarantee that no such change will occur in the future or to request a deed of donation or something similar to make it "community" property

4 It is NOT "controlled" thru mt gox by The Federation although as they are hand in hand it can be assumed that there is some influence (ok as long as its not undue)

I suppose what I am trying to say is what can be done to GUARANTEE the free use and not leave it to the whims of whoever is in control of Mtgox at the time?

[Zeke_Vermillion]

both "bitcoin" registrations appear to be abandoned. check the uspto website. to be protectable as a trademark, a mark must uniquely identify the source of goods and services in commerce. since bitcoin is a decentralized open-source project, i find it very difficult to believe that anyone could successfully sue based on such a mark, regardless of whether anyone manages to pull a fast one on some trademark examiner who's never heard of the thing.

[Chakraball]

It seems Mr. Karpeles (MtGox) has owned the name for a while now, wonder why he didn't disclose this fact.
Filing date                    15 June 2011     
Date of entry in register      05 February 2012
Renewal date                   15 June 2021

The class 9 entry is interesting, I wonder if he could argue in a court that he owns the rights to the bitcoin client therefore Gavin's work?

Case details for trade mark EU010103646

List of goods and services

Class 9      Software for commerce over a global communications network.
Class 35     Electronic commerce services, namely providing information about products via telecommunication networks for advertising and sales purposes.
Class 38     Signal transmission for electronic commerce via telecommunication systems and data communication systems.
Class 42     Constructing an internet platform for electronic commerce.
Name and Address details

Holder's nameTibanne Co. Ltd.Cerulean Tower 15F 26-1 Sakuragaoka-Cho, Shibuya Tokyo, Japan, 150-8512
RepresentativeBAKER & MCKENZIE LLP100 New Bridge Street, London, United Kingdom, EC4V 6JA

http://www.ipo.gov.uk/tmcase/Results/4/EU010103646


Nice logo huh.

Case details for trade mark EU010050466

http://www.ipo.gov.uk/tmcase/Results/4/EU010050466


Also posted in GD.

[Zeke_Vermillion]

trademarks are not property. trademark law is an offshoot of unfair competition law. registering a trademark does not mean you own it, just that you have a publicly-announced claim that a certain mark uniquely identifies the registrant as the source of the claimed goods or services. whether the registrant actually has protectable trademark rights is something that you'd have to figure out based on the facts. in this case, it seems pretty clear to me and most of the commenters here, that mt gox does not actually have any protectable trademark rights in the bitcoin name as such.

[Zeke_Vermillion]

Yes, that is my point.

[farlack]

I read something here in the United States, the public cant know before its registered or something. BTC was widely used, and adpoted. I don't see a US court agreeing to give any funds to anyone, especially to an outside company.

[inge]

...cough, cough...nice logo, I suppose...

[kevinmyers80]

is legal, no problem 

[Chuck Finley]

Good luck enforcing that if they ever tried (not only because of the obvious jurisdictional issues involved) - and the longer they let blatant "infringement" occur without pursing it the less likely they'll be able to maintain it.

There's a reason why companies send around takedown notices and sue people for using their trademark even if they aren't actually being pricks - you have to protect your trademark. (Otherwise it looks like a case of "we're unfairly picking on this one guy even though we let everyone else get away with doing the same thing).

[qwerty555]

Good luck enforcing that if they ever tried (not only because of the obvious jurisdictional issues involved) - and the longer they let blatant "infringement" occur without pursing it the less likely they'll be able to maintain it.

There's a reason why companies send around takedown notices and sue people for using their trademark even if they aren't actually being pricks - you have to protect your trademark. (Otherwise it looks like a case of "we're unfairly picking on this one guy even though we let everyone else get away with doing the same thing).

What is now the situation with the trade mark given an alleged attempt to sell by Tibanne?

https://coinreport.net/bitcoin-trademark-operator-sale/

[freedomno1]

What is now the situation with the trade mark given an alleged attempt to sell by Tibanne?

https://coinreport.net/bitcoin-trademark-operator-sale/

Not sure myself but thanks for sharing in my opinion when the name was trademarked it was so people could use it with free license
Since they are asking for 1 million I'm not quite sure someone will want it
Personally I wouldn't mind if Theymos bought the thing since were spending a million on the forum and we can ensure it remains free use to the community.

That said it was trademarked when bitcoin was not a generic name so it might not even have that much value now.

A spokesperson of Japan’s patent office says that owners of the trademark could sue anyone using the word without permission, but a judge would have to validate the claim.

[NewLiberty]

What is now the situation with the trade mark given an alleged attempt to sell by Tibanne?

https://coinreport.net/bitcoin-trademark-operator-sale/

Not sure myself but thanks for sharing in my opinion when the name was trademarked it was so people could use it with free license
Since they are asking for 1 million I'm not quite sure someone will want it
Personally I wouldn't mind if Theymos bought the thing since were spending a million on the forum and we can ensure it remains free use to the community.

That said it was trademarked when bitcoin was not a generic name so it might not even have that much value now.

A spokesperson of Japan’s patent office says that owners of the trademark could sue anyone using the word without permission, but a judge would have to validate the claim.

Anyone can use it, unless Satoshi Nakamoto comes out and says you can't.
It is "prior art" for anyone else:

Good suggestion.  I made the B slightly lighter and the background slightly darker.  Very slightly.  The foreground is now exactly the same colour as the BC in the old one.

It's kind of OK if you can't easily read the B in the 16x16.  At that size, you just need to see that it's a coin.  It doesn't matter so much what's embossed on it, just that there be some detail there because it wouldn't look like a coin if it was a blank smooth circle.

It's slightly wider than tall because the dark perspective under it goes more to the right than down.

I finished and posted the 32x31 and 48x47 versions in the first message.  I like the 48 a lot.

How does everyone feel about the B symbol with the two lines through the outside?  Can we live with that as our logo?

[odolvlobo]

Anyone can use it, unless Satoshi Nakamoto comes out and says you can't.
It is "prior art" for anyone else:

Trademarks, copyrights, and patents have different laws. The term "prior art" applies to patents. Trademarks do not have that concept.

Also, trademark laws vary by country. Trademarks considered generic in some countries may still be protected in others.

[Ron~Popeil]

I am not sure they would be interested in enforcing anything. It might be worth trying to acquire it in order to keep it from being exploited.

[NewLiberty]

Anyone can use it, unless Satoshi Nakamoto comes out and says you can't.
It is "prior art" for anyone else:

Trademarks, copyrights, and patents have different laws. The term "prior art" applies to patents. Trademarks do not have that concept.

Also, trademark laws vary by country. Trademarks considered generic in some countries may still be protected in others.

Yes, law is a matter of geography and I was being flip and cute with the "prior art" comment. 
I well understand the difference between patent and trademark

Something being legal, doesn't also make it right.
Quite often the opposite is the case.

[jeffersonairplane]

You can not use the logo and claim it as your own basically.

[LostDutchman]

from reading previous posts I understand that Mtgox is the owner of bitcoin trademark

when using this in a product  like a medallion or chocolate coin or advertising does Mtgox require that the user seeks permission first?

Are fees or royalties due for such use?

Mt.Gox owns shit.

Have a nice day and don't worry about it.

If you doubt me, go to:

USPTO.gov and do a search or two.