Software development giant Oracle Corporation has again sued the crypto startup Crypto Oracle LLC and its owner, claiming they violated its trademark and ignored prior legal agreements.
Oracle sued Crypto Oracle and owner Louis Kerner in a California federal court on Nov. 25, claiming they “resumed their violation of Oracle’s trademark rights” and were also “egregiously and flagrantly violating” a settlement agreement.
The software giant initially filed a lawsuit in 2019 against the crypto firm, accusing it of “using Oracle’s famous trademark as part of their ‘CryptoOracle’ brand and using that brand to market cryptocurrency-related services to Oracle’s own customers and users.”
The two firms reached a confidential settlement, and the court issued a permanent injunction in 2020 prohibiting Crypto Oracle from using the “CryptoOracle” name or any variation of the Oracle trademark.
But Oracle now claimed that Crypto Oracle and Kerner had resumed using the ‘CryptoOracle’ name and branding, launched new ventures, maintained the infringing domain name, and hosted events under the “CryptoOracle Collective” brand in violation of the settlement agreement and court injunction.
An excerpt of the complaint featuring a screenshot of the CryptoOracle website. Source: PACER
Oracle has accused the defendants of trademark infringement, unfair competition, dilution of its trademark, cybersquatting, breach of the settlement agreement, and civil contempt of court.
It’s seeking injunctive relief, monetary damages, statutory penalties, attorney fees, and the transfer or removal of infringing domains and branding.
Kerner did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Information on Crypto Oracle’s lawyers was not immediately available.
Legal squabbles involving crypto companies and trademarks are nothing new.
In February 2023, NanoLabs filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against crypto exchange Coinbase over its Nano Bitcoin and Ether futures contracts.
In 2022, the Dfinity Foundation, the nonprofit behind the Internet Computer blockchain, filed a lawsuit against Facebook’s parent company Meta alleging trademark infringement over its infinity logo.
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