LG Electronics, Alibaba and other companies are confirmed to have registered the trademark rights in Korea to “Libra,” Facebook’s long-awaited cryptocurrency. According to related industries, LG completed its trademark registration for “Watch Libra” on Oct. 18 2016.

Industries in which the Watch Libra trademark is applied include software (application) for mobile phones, applied software and software for TVs (code G390802). As a result, there is a good chance that Facebook may not be able to use “Libra” when Facebook implements the Libra service in Korea.

Alibaba also registered the rights to the Libra trademark under the name of Alibaba Group Holding Limited on May 9 2010. Industries in which Alibaba’s trademark is applied include management of investment portfolios and finance and banking service (coded S0201) and data tracking of cryptocurrency transactions for accounting surveillance and monitoring agency service (coded S120401).

Earlier, Facebook had attempted to apply for the registration of “Libra” at the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO). The property agency rejected the application as of May 9, stating that there were four pre-registered trademarks.

Industries the KIPO cited as being pre-registered were online project development service and support service for others’ startups in addition to those in which LG and Alibaba’s trademark rights are applied.

On Tuesday, Facebook made public its Libra project enabling users to send money and buy goods on Messenger and Instagram. The Libra trademark had also belonged to other company rather than Facebook in the United States, but Facebook acquired the rights to the Libra trademark in the U.S. later.

Meanwhile, a startup in San Francisco claimed that the logo of Calibra, the crypto wallet for Libra, encroached on its rights. Online bank startup Current CEO Stuart Sopp said, “Character, a design firm that took part in the trademark design of Calibra, also designed our logo. The two logos are actually the same.” /jms@decenter.kr

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