In the past week the normally fun loving /r/Dogecoin community has been at odds with one another over a trademark dispute. The dispute seems to have mostly settled for now but it clearly will have lasting ramifications that have yet to be determined.
Ultra Pro, a company most widely known for creating protective cases for collectibles, files a trademark application on Doge stating they are doing so to protect themselves from potentially being sued in the future for not having a trademark on merchandise they create utilizing the meme. This leads to immediate and very vocal backlash against Ultra Pro courtesy of the /r/Dogecoin community.
Following the trademark announcement by Ultra Pro, Moolah tweets this, which is then posted onto r/dogecoin. Moolah releases a statement that they are merely filing a notice of opposition and that nobody, including them, should hold a trademark on Doge.
Ultra Pro makes an AMA on /r/dogecoin. They state that they still have no intention of using the trademark against anyone, and they are open to Moolah’s idea of filing the notice of opposition to make sure NO ONE can have the trademark, as (allegedly) the original trademark application was just for Ultra’s self-defense. However, until a notice of opposition is completed, Ultra is continuing to wait on the original application to protect themselves.
In the aftermath of this situation, original Dogecoin developer Billy Markus makes a post saying that the entire situation is stupid tells the /r/dogecoin community that it needs to stay silly. Ultra Pro is still awaiting on its trademark while Moolah is still waiting on their notice of opposition. Jackson Palmer tweets that he has left the /r/dogecoin community but not Dogecoin.