Paypal and Western Union File Trademarks for Wide Range of Crypto Services

Financial services companies Paypal and Western Union have each filed three new trademark applications covering a wide range of crypto services. Paypal’s applications are also for the payments giant’s logo.

Paypal Inc. has filed three new trademark applications with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Mike Kondoudis, a USPTO-licensed trademark attorney, tweeted 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.

Filed on Oct. 18, the applications’ serial numbers are 97636933, 97636892, and 97636857.

An excerpt from one of the trademark applications explains that the 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 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 payments company recently began allowing users to transfer crypto to other wallets and exchanges. 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.

Kondoudis reported Tuesday that financial services company Western Union 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.

A growing number of companies have filed trademark applications relating to crypto and the metaverse with the USPTO. Earlier this month, Formula One filed eight trademark applications for “F1” covering many crypto and metaverse products and services. Ford similarly filed 19 trademark applications last month. E-commerce giant Ebay filed two in June, Facebook owner Meta filed five in May, and Mastercard filed 15 related trademark applications in April.

What do you think about Paypal and Western Union filing trademark applications for crypto services? Let us know in the comments section below.