Wirex, a leading digital payments platform, has succeeded in its High Court trade mark infringement claim regarding their UK registered trade mark for Cryptoback™, which is used in conjunction with Wirex’s popular crypto rewards scheme.
The victory is against Cryptocarbon Global Ltd, Cryptocarbon UK Ltd and Bee-One UK Ltd in respect of their unauthorised use of the Cryptoback™ trade mark. Mr. Subash Manuel, a director of these companies, was held jointly liable for the infringing activities of Cryptocarbon Global Ltd and Cryptocarbon UK Ltd.
Wirex is an innovative crypto payments platform, giving customers the ability to buy, hold, exchange and sell up to 20 traditional and cryptocurrencies from a centralised, intuitive app. Cryptoback™ is one of Wirex’s most popular features, and the company is proud to have been the world’s first to offer a cryptocurrency rewards scheme. The programme automatically rewards customers up to 2% back in WXT, Wirex’s native token, for using their crypto-enabled debit card in-store or online.
Wirex issued its claim for trade mark infringement in September 2019 after discovering that the defendants were using the Cryptoback™ name in conjunction with a cryptocurrency rewards scheme. After a High Court trial in January this year, His Honour Judge Hacon found that Wirex’s Cryptoback™ trade mark was valid and infringed by the defendants, and all of their counterclaims (including to invalidate the Cryptoback™ trade mark) were dismissed.
The news comes at a significant time for Wirex, as they release a product overhaul, including their X-tras rewards programme. Building on the success of the crypto-rewards scheme and rewarding loyal customers, it offers enhanced Cryptoback™ rewards and up to 12% annual Savings Bonus on users WXT balance*. Last week, the company also announced their brand new crypto-enabled and multicurrency Mastercard debit card in the UK and EEA regions, with real-time point-of-sale conversion, exclusive interbank and OTC exchange rates, free international ATM withdrawals, zero monthly fees and free fiat-to-fiat exchanges.
Dominique Simon, Global General Counsel at Wirex remarked, “We are delighted that the Court has found in our favour after a long and hard-fought battle against these infringers. We would like to thank our legal team, Andrew Norris QC (Hogarth Chambers) and Brown Rudnick LLP, for all of their fantastic work in helping to deliver this outcome. We look forward to developing and expanding our Cryptoback™ program in the UK and worldwide, along with other exciting innovations. ”
