Ripple is locked in another legal battle, this time with Kefi Labs, the creators of a social photo-sharing app also called 'Ripple'.
According to a court document obtained by CoinDesk, Ripple (the cryptocurrency) has sued the app's makers for trademark infringement, unfair competition and cybersquatting. It is claiming $2 million in damages, and as much as triple this amount or the amount of profits generated by the defendant resulting from its alleged infringement, as per 15 U.S. Code § 1117(a) - Recovery for violation of rights.
In addition, it is seeking $100,000 in statutory damages for each domain name allegedly infringing upon Ripple's rights. These include getripple.io and getrippl.io.
A visitor to the first domain will come across terminology such as "Ripplers", who start posts, or "ripples", of the photos they share. Spreading ripples earns participants points.
In its complaint, Ripple lists multiple U.S. Trademarks for which it is owner of the word 'Ripple'.
The amounts claimed are in addition to Ripple's demand that the defendant abandon its own filing of a trademark for 'Ripple', and destroy all offending products and marketing material.
The complaint was filed in the United States District Court, Northern District of California.
Earlier this year, Ripple took to the courts in an attempt to freeze $1 million worth of Ripple's XRP currency held by Jed McCaleb, the creator of a newer version of the protocol. The company claimed that he was selling "Founder Tokens" in breach of contract agreed upon between the parties.
A year earlier, Ripple threatened Jesse Powell- an early Ripple backer and currently CEO of the Kraken crypto Exchange - with legal action. The company accused Powell of wrongly damaging its reputation during a dispute involving the number of XRP held by Chris Larsen.
