Quote from: darkmule on March 03, 2014, 07:53:26 AM

Quote from: kolev on February 28, 2014, 08:46:45 PM

Mt.Gox also owns the Bitcoin trademark.

The only record I've seen is this in Europe. I've seen no evidence they've actually used the mark in commerce as a mark indicating products unique to Gox. Generally, a trademark must identify the products of the specific entity claiming ownership of it, and that entity must have control over the use of the mark. Gox has effectively abandoned the mark by never attempting enforcement, not that an enforcement attempt would have been likely to succeed.

I suppose it's possible an intellectual property troll will somehow end up with possession of whatever rights they have in the term, but I wouldn't worry about it much unless it actually happens.

The trademark registration does not register actual ownership of a mark, but merely puts the first filer (in most jurisdictions) basically "first in line" with their claim of ownership, such that an accused infringer does not have a defense of lack of notice. Of course, this being a registration in Europe, Gox would have to be able to demonstrate that it actually used this mark in commerce in at least one EU country. And of course laws vary by jurisdiction so the exact impact of their use in commerce, assuming it exists at all, might vary in unpredictable ways.

Lots of people have tried to trademark Bitcoin. The US law is pretty clear on this: first use defines who gets to TM something...thus, there's no need for (or ability for anyone to obtain) a US trademark. For other countries, it's (AFAIK) basically first horse across the regulatory finish line gets the TM, regardless of who has been using it (doesn't matter who was first, what they were using it for, how long they were using it, etc). Mark used his own funds to defensively trademark it and then (i guess) purposely never enforce it so as to make it essentially free to use (he's a French citizen, i think, so he did this in France). I don't know if that means no one can TM it there or it re-opens the door for someone else to TM it...but he was praised for doing this for the community at the time. If someone came to you and asked you for a few $k USD to TM "bitcoin" in your country to pre-empt squatters, would you be willing?