Battle Erupts Over The Dogecoin Trademark With Over Half A Dozen Claims Filed With USPTO

A battle has erupted over who owns the trademark to meme cryptocurrency Dogecoin DOGE/USD, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.

What Happened: The Dogecoin Foundation, a Colorado non-profit formed by the cryptocurrency’s creators and supporters in 2014, is among the half a dozen others to have now filed an official claim with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on the dogecoin brand name, as per the report.

Moon Rabbit AngoZaibatsu LLC, a Cook Islands-based company, reportedly filed for Dogecoin trademarks in the U.S. and the European Union in May.

See Also: How To Buy Dogecoin (DOGE)

Angel Versetti, the founder of Moon Rabbit, created a new dogecoin on his company’s blockchain network and also created another Cook Islands-based company called the Dogecoin Foundation after he noticed the original Dogecoin Foundation remained inactive, the report noted.

Obtaining a trademark identifies the source of goods or services and provides legal protection for a brand.

Why It Matters: Created mainly as a joke in 2013, Dogecoin has shot to prominence this year, in major part due to endorsements from Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk. The meme cryptocurrency’s year-to-date gains are an impressive 4127.46%.

Dogecoin’s popularity has also led to several imitators attempting to ride on the “tailwind” of the frenzy surrounding the Musk-championed meme cryptocurrency.

The original Dogecoin Foundation was recently revived by core Dogecoin developers and Billy Markus, the co-creator of the Shiba Inu-themed coin.

Markus, one of the board advisors of the foundation, told Benzinga in August that the foundation is most concerned about trademark trolling - the practice of registering a trademark without the intent of actually using it.

Price Action: Dogecoin is up almost 1.4% during the last 24 hours, trading at $0.2396 at press time.

Read Next: Dogecoin Co-Creator, Others React To Litecoin-Walmart Fiasco: Why You Shouldn't Take 'This Stuff So Seriously'

Photo: By The Furtherfield Gallery on Flickr