Alibaba Group 'confident' in legal battle with Dubai-based crypto firm
Alibaba Group says that Alibabacoin's name is "willful, concerted and unlawful scheme" to exploit its trademarks
E-commerce giant Alibaba Group is “confident” a new trial motion will allow the company to block Dubai-based cryptocurrency firm Alibabcoin from using its name, the company said on Wednesday.
Earlier this week, a New York judge rejected a preliminary injunction from Alibaba Group, arguing that Alibaba failed to show that an American court had jurisdiction in the matter, as well as establish a “reasonable probability” that Alibabacoin’s websites were used to do business with customers in New York.
The judge also argued that it is irrelevant that Alibabacoin may one day list its cryptocurrency on American exchanges, or that one of its websites is hosted by a company based in New York.
In a statement sent to Arabian Business on Wednesday, an Alibaba Group spokesperson expressed optimism that the case will eventually be resolved in court in the company’s favour.
“Alibaba Group is not affiliated with the ABBC [Alibabacoin] Foundation,” the spokesperson said. “The court’s ruling on April 30 was with respect to jurisdiction. We will be submitting a new motion and are confident we will be able to put an end to this willful, concerted and unlawful scheme by the ABBC Foundation to exploit Alibaba Group trademarks.”
In response to the original lawsuit, Alibabacoin lawyers argued that it was “neither a responsible or proportionate response to our client’s entirely legitimate use of an inherently generic word” which comes from the Middle East.
The company also argued that China’s ban on ICOs in September eliminated a potential source of consumer confusion regarding ties to Alibaba.
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