Coinbase has no intention to prevent crypto community from using the ‘BUIDL’ trademark: CTO

There were reports stating that popular cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase, wants to own ‘BUIDL’ trademark. However, community wasn’t sure what that would exactly mean and if they’ll be barred from using it. In a recent tweet CTO Balaji S. Srinivasan informed the community more about it.

He assured the community that they do not have the intention to prevent others in the community from using it. “Saw the commotion on Twitter & dug into this. Coinbase filed the trademark for BUIDL some time back. I learned about it today & chatted with team. TLDR is that @brian_armstrong & I don’t believe in trademarks for stuff like this so we’ll be giving this one back to the community,” he wrote.

According to the tweet, the need of trademark from the company’s perspective is not that necessary. However, they want to protect it from companies outside of the crypto community who might trademark it. Srinivasan further added, “In more detail: the team had no intention to prevent the community from using it. There had been thought of a feature named Coinbase BUIDL and they didn’t want to attract patent trolls for a common term. Was 100% defensive filing.”

The move was first came to notice after a filing was noted with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The application for registering the trademark was reportedly filed on October 2. According to the USPTO website, about three months after the filing date, the application will be assigned to an examining attorney.

The news came as a shock personalities since it came without any proper clarification from the company. The doubt over whether the community can use the term or not is logical since registering a trademark means it guarantees exclusive use of the trademark.

According to the Small Business Administration, “Registering a trademark guarantees exclusive use, establishes legally that your mark is not already being used, and provides government protection from any liability or infringement issues that may arise. Being cautious in the beginning can certainly save you trouble in the long run. You may choose to personally apply for trademark registration or hire an intellectual property lawyer to register for you.”

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