Unicoin Sues Uniswap Labs Seeking Cancellation of UNI Trademark Registration
TransparentBusiness Inc., operating as Unicoin, has filed a lawsuit in the Southern District of New York against Universal Navigation Inc., known as Uniswap Labs, seeking declarations that its UNICOIN mark neither infringes nor dilutes Uniswap’s trademarks for UNI, UNISWAP, and UNICHAIN. The complaint also requests cancellation of the US trademark registration for UNI.
Details of Unicoin’s Lawsuit and Claims
Filed on a Tuesday, TransparentBusiness contends that its UNICOIN mark neither infringes nor dilutes Uniswap’s registered trademarks UNI, UNISWAP, and UNICHAIN. The company also requests the court to cancel the US trademark registration for UNI owned by Uniswap. Additionally, Unicoin seeks declarations confirming that its domains unicoin.com and unicoin.org do not violate the federal Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act.
Prior Legal Actions and Uniswap’s Allegations
The complaint outlines that Uniswap’s legal counsel sent three demand letters to TransparentBusiness on June 3, July 17, and August 14. These letters accused Unicoin of trademark infringement, dilution, cybersquatting, and unfair competition while threatening further legal measures. Uniswap demanded that Unicoin cease using UNICOIN and related marks, surrender the unicoin.com and unicoin.org domains, disclose revenue and profits, and reimburse Uniswap’s legal fees. The lawsuit was initiated several weeks before Unicoin’s planned public launch of its UNCN token on September 28. At the time of filing, Uniswap ranked first among decentralized exchanges with more than $3.9 billion in 24-hour trading volume, according to DeFiLlama.
Why it matters
This lawsuit highlights the increasing challenges around trademark rights and protection within the crypto industry, where brand names often overlap. The dispute between Unicoin and Uniswap Labs illustrates the competition over using similar or identical trademarks amid launches of new tokens and projects. The outcome could set a significant precedent for defining the limits of name and domain usage as well as intellectual property defense strategies in the blockchain ecosystem.
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