Your Favorite Grocery Store Takes on DeFi Platform
Trader Joe’s, the well-known American grocery store chain, is once again attempting to shut down the popular DeFi platform Trader Joe for trademark infringement. Last year, the grocery chain filed a complaint with the United Nations’ World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) but was unsuccessful in seizing the crypto trading website. Now, Trader Joe’s is seeking damages, including all profits from the DeFi platform, as well as additional payments and compensation for its “erroneous” loss in court last year.
A Name Controversy
The defense presented by Cheng Chieh Liu, co-founder of the Trader Joe DeFi platform, argued that their project had nothing to do with the grocery store and was named after Liu’s brother. However, just weeks after winning the case at the United Nations, a pseudonymous co-founder of the DeFi project wrote a Substack newsletter explicitly stating that they named it Trader Joe after the supermarket.
Lawsuit Allegations
In response to this revelation, Trader Joe’s has filed a lawsuit accusing the crypto traders of being dishonest about their project’s name. The grocery chain claims that the defendants concocted a false story and knowingly misrepresented the truth. Decrypt reached out to the founders of the DeFi platform for comment but has not received a response yet.
Hot Take: Trader Joe’s Seeks Revenge
Trader Joe’s is determined to shut down the Trader Joe DeFi platform for trademark infringement after failing to do so last year. The grocery chain is seeking damages and compensation for its alleged loss in court and insists on seizing all affiliated websites and permanently shutting down the platform. The defense presented by one of the platform’s co-founders appears to have been undermined by a Substack newsletter where another co-founder admitted naming it after the supermarket. The lawsuit accuses the crypto traders of dishonesty, and the outcome remains to be seen.
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