They took the view that “we can just crush them, we’re Facebook,” said the co-founder of Diem.
Facebook earlier changed the name of its yet to be launched stablecoin to Diem, changed the name of the Libra association to Diem Association, and also changed the name of its wallet to Novi wallet. Hoping that the coin that was previously known as Libra would be launched next year under the newly chosen name, a startup that bears the name Diem has threatened a lawsuit on Facebook.
Geri Cupi, the CEO of the London-based Fintech Company, Diem believes that the action of Facebook will have a significant negative effect on its growth that may arise from customers’ confusion.
Chris Adelsbach, the Co-founder of Diem, confirmed that they surely felt intimidated to confront Facebook on the decision. However, he was advised by the legal team to do all that it takes to protect his brand. In his statement, he spelled out that this decision by Facebook could be a deliberate ploy since it would not take much effort to find out another company owns that brand. They took the view that “we can just crush them, we’re Facebook,” he said. There has not been any comment from Facebook regarding this allegation yet, but there may be another change of name before its launch.
Similarly, the New Payment Platform Australia (NPPA) entered a legal battle with Ripple for using “PayID” to define its payment standard. According to reports, the NPPA has operated the “Pay ID” since 2017 before Ripple adopted that trademark. In the long run, Ripple had to register a new trademark to put the case to sleep.
Just last year, Facebook faced another legal threat from an Israeli company that claimed it owns all the rights associated with the Libra trademark. In response, Facebook said that the Libra trademark was owned by a Non-Profit Organization in Switzerland controlled by Facebook called Libra Association. To escape some of these legal problems, Facebook changed the name for the Libra Association and that of the stablecoin but unfortunately landed in the same situation they were escaping from.
Facebook has faced several legal hurdles since its Libra vision was announced with several people thinking the execution of this project would threaten the global financial system. David Marcus, the Head of Facebook Financial or F2 has called on regulators to give them the benefit of the doubt.
According to Marcus, all the things they have done and the complications they have met in executing its vision should be a strong reason for the regulators to give them a chance to operate. Facebook is currently waiting for approval from the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority to proceed with the Diem Project.
Olaf Scholz, the Finance Minister of Germany has already declared his stance about the project saying Diem would not be allowed into the market by the Germany Lawmakers unless Facebook takes steps to solve the regulatory concerns raised about the project.
Excellent John K. Kumi is a cryptocurrency and fintech enthusiast, operations manager of a fintech platform, writer, researcher, and a huge fan of creative writing. With an Economics background, he finds much interest in the invisible factors that causes price change in anything measured with valuation. He has been in the crypto/blockchain space in the last five (5) years. He mostly watches football highlights and movies in his free time.
