On March 3, The Dogecoin Foundation announced on Twitter that it had registered the name ‘Doge’ and ‘Dogecoin’ as well as their respective logos as trademarks in the European Union. Along with the tweet is a certificate dated January 13, 2022.
Jens Wiechers, foundation executive board member stated within the Tweet thread, ‘The issue isn’t (and has never been) use in memes, etc, but attempts by people completely unaffiliated with Dogecoin to register them, which only really makes sense if they want to then extort either the community or the Dogecoin project, devs, foundation, etc. directly.’
The Dogecoin Foundation was re-established in August 2021, after 6 years of being inactive. As part of promoting the future of the blockchain, the foundation claims to announce new projects and encourage the adoption and utilization of DOGE to increase the token’s uptake.
However, Dogecoin Foundation faced various challenges after its hiatus due to its failure to seek trademark protection when it was created in 2014. In September 2021, the foundation issued a statement of demand for the new meme coin, Dogecoin 2.0 (DOGE2) to change its name.
A letter was published to inform Dogecoin 2.0’s developers that the Dogecoin Foundation’s brand protection lawyers will engage with them to ‘protect the Dogecoin community from being misled and to protect the Dogecoin name from possible misuse.’
Dogecoin 2.0’s website indirectly replied by stating, ‘Dogecoin 2.0 aims to offer investors prolonged growth in utilizing a much more sustainable tokenomics structure than its somewhat inflated predecessor.’
When Dogecoin Foundation decided to apply for trademark protection at the U.S Patent and Trademark Office in September 2021, it was already competing with at least 100 cryptocurrencies and half a dozen foundations that were using the same name.
Another challenge Dogecoin foundation is facing over Dogecoin’s name is the resignation of its director, Ross Nicoll. As per Nicoll, the foundation is operating in an extremely stressful and overwhelming environment. In his blog written on February 16, he stated that there are many parties registering trademarks for Dogecoin. There was even a potential lawsuit against its developers from ‘someone who claimed we were responsible for their funds.’
After winning the quest for trademarked names and logos, the Dogecoin Foundation took to Twitter, saying ‘It’s a small victory that seems so very irrelevant given all that’s currently happening in the world, but it’s an important step.’
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