PayPal and Western Union File Trademarks For Several Crypto Services
Paypal Inc., an online financial service company, has filed three new trademark applications with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Paypal’s applications also included the company’s logo.
The announcement was made by Mike Kondoudis, a USPTO-licensed trademark attorney, in a tweet on Monday:
“PayPal has filed trademark applications for PayPal and its ‘overlapping Ps’ logo. The apps claim plans for exchanging, trading, and processing transfers of blockchain + digital assets, crypto + digital + virtual currencies … and more”.
The application was filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office on Oct. 18. The applications’ serial numbers are 97636933, 97636892, and 97636857.
An excerpt from one of the trademark applications explains that the global firm’s trademark covers “downloadable software for sending, receiving, accepting, buying, selling, storing, transmitting, trading and exchanging digital currency, virtual currency, cryptocurrency, stablecoins, digital and blockchain assets, digitized assets, digital tokens, crypto tokens, and utility tokens.”
PayPal’s Journey to Crypto Integration
This recent move is not the first of PayPal’s crypto and blockchain integration as observed in the last few months. In March last year, PayPal introduced Checkout with Crypto, which allowed users to pay using crypto when shopping online. In March 2022, PayPal updated its user policy, removing NFTs sales of more than $10,000 from the Seller Protection Program. This move is perceived as a preemptive measure to protect itself against fraud in the NFT space.
This new trademark application comes shortly after PayPal announced in June that all eligible PayPal account holders in the U.S. can now transfer, send and receive cryptocurrency between the app and other wallets and exchanges.
PayPal’s cryptocurrency platform allows customers in the U.S. and U.S. territories (excluding Hawaii) to transact with four different cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), and bitcoin cash (BCH).
The new functionality will allow PayPal users to transfer supported coins (Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, or Litecoin) onto the platform, move crypto from PayPal to external crypto addresses, including exchanges and hardware wallets, and send crypto to family and friends on PayPal with no fees or network charges.
On its journey to crypto integration, the company suffered a little backlash. Earlier this month, PayPal was caught in a controversy when people on social media noticed that its new terms of service allowed the company to fine customers $2,500 for spreading misinformation. The company subsequently claimed that it was an error.
Western Union Also Files 3 Trademark Applications for Crypto Services
Kondoudis also reported on Tuesday through his Twitter page that financial services company Western Union has also filed three trademark applications on the same day as Paypal. He wrote:
Western Union has filed 3 trademark applications claiming plans for financial + banking + insurance, virtual currency exchange + transfer, commodity and crypto trading + brokerage, issuing tokens of value … and much more.
The serial numbers for Western Union’s applications are 97641189, 97641182, and 97641176
Some of the other major financial services providers to have filed Web3 trademark applications this year include Mastercard, which has been involved in several Web3 projects; American Express; and Capital One.
