I have searched for these trademarks on both
www.tmdn.org and tmsearch.uspto.gov and it seems pretty clear that neither bitcoinpenny nor nastypenny are registered trademarks and there is not even an application for a trademark. I know how an application for trademark looks like on these search websites and there is none of those.
To me it seems that penny is such a common word that nobody can claim owning all possible <word>penny combinations like Bitcoinpenny seems to claim to own. To me it looks like this is an issue that is possible to have differing opinions and who is right can only be settled in court if somebody wants to take it that far but I would not hold my breath since nobody has spent even a much smaller amount of money to file for the trademark.
You don't necessarily need to register a trademark to claim copyright. ''Merely using a trademark in the marketplace confers rights, such as prohibiting people from copying it in order to create confusion among consumers.''
However trademark infringements only happen when there is confusion in the market. I don't think BitcoinPenny is famous enough for NastyPenny to cause any confusion.
''In order to serve as a trademark, a mark must be distinctive -- that is, it must be capable of identifying the source of a particular good. In determining whether a mark is distinctive, the courts group marks into four categories, based on the relationship between the mark and the underlying product: (1) arbitrary or fanciful, (2) suggestive, (3) descriptive, or
(4) generic. Because the marks in each of these categories vary with respect to their distinctiveness, the requirements for, and degree of, legal protection afforded a particular trademark will depend upon which category it falls within.''
BitcoinPenny would fall into category 4, generic. Like a business called ''computers'' or ''shoes''
Generic marks are entitled to no protection under trademark law. Thus, a manufacturer selling "Computer" brand computers would have no exclusive right to use that term with respect to that product. Generic terms are not protected by trademark law because they are simply too useful for identifying a particular product.
I believe we can conclude that OGNasty is not guilty of any trademark infringements.
