By Sportswear giant Nike has filed for a trademark and service mark application with the US Patent and Trademark Office for a project dubbed “Cryptokicks”. The application document has revealed the company’s plans to launch its own digital currency.
Nike Inc, which is one of the world’s leading sportswear and footwear manufacturers filed for the trademark for “Cryptokicks” on April 19th.
Notably, the document filed falls under section 1B which in a nutshell means that Nike has full intention to use the new trademark in commerce. The document identifies some of the services which Nike has in the pipeline and outlines “financial services, namely, providing a digital currency or digital token for use by members of an online community via a global computer network.”
Josh Gerben, Trademark attorney, had this to say on the application:
“There has to be somewhat of a business idea behind it. If you submit things just for the purpose of submitting things, it will tie up the trademark system unnecessarily. Nike does not have a history of filings that are speculative.”
In addition to this, the attorney has reportedly also stated that there is a 30-day period for the application to be appealed. However, should the application be approved, Nike would have the term “Cryptokicks” reserved for its use for four years. In this four year period, the company would need to launch a commercial product with that name.
Gerben added:
“There’s a requirement that you commercially use a trademark to get the rights to it.”
Nike & Blockchain?
The question on everyone’s mind is “how does Nike intend to use a cryptocurrency and what would its purpose be?” If one had to take a look at the patent application and the items therein that Nike is seeking protection for we can see that the company stresses on several occasions that the crypto asset would be used “by members of an online community.”
This leads us to believe that Nike could be intending to use the Cryptokicks cryptocurrency as part of some sort of closed community incentive project.
In addition to launching a cryptocurrency, it seems that Nike also intends to create a number of associated products and services:
“Online marketplace services, namely, providing a marketplace for buyers and sellers of digital currency assets; Operating an online marketplace featuring footwear and clothing; on-line retail store services.”
Lastly, Nike also intends to develop crypto hardware and software wallets and mobile applications for “providing access to crypto-collectibles, crypto-art, and application tokens.”
Comments