The dispute centers around a complaint filed by Foris. It is the operator of Crypto.com, with the World Intellectual Property Organization, which claims trademark rights to the domain.
Crypto.com is a big name in the crypto world, has landed in hot water over claims about a domain name. The company was about to roll out a news sports trading platform when Foris Limited, its operator based in Hong Kong, got slapped with a lawsuit by Domdevelo OÜ, an Estonian tech firm.
On December 20 of the previous year, Domdevelo filed the lawsuit in an Arizona federal court, reported Next.io. The company claims that Foris attempted to reverse hijack the domain name Cripto.com. The Estonian firm says they bought the domain fair and square for about $75,000 in November 2021 and since then, have owned it.
The disagreement centers around a complaint Foris filed with the WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization), claiming trademark ownership of the domain. This caused GoDaddy.com to temporarily halt the operations of the domain. Domdevelo claims Foris made major false statements in its WIPO submission. This includes saying it owned trademarks that belong to a different company in Singapore, Foris Technology Pte Ltd.
Domdevelo fought back against these allegations by submitting its own trademark request in March 2024 for CRIPTO.COM. This application targets services in online betting, gaming, as well as casino operations. These areas are where Domdevelo claims Foris does not have an aqctive business presence. The Estonian company also contends that Cripto is a common term in several languages. This highlights its wider linguistic, as well as cultural importance.
Domdevelo is taking legal action to get a court to confirm its rightful use of the domain and to get damages. Under the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection, this includes lawyer fees. The company states that its domain purchases are valid and form part of its business plan to grow or resell digital assets. It points to other domains like Check.id and CryptoAlert.ai as examples.
