Facebook In Trouble? Libra, an Insurance Firm, Claims Ownership Over the Libra Trademark

An insurance company from Israel called Libra has sent a notice to Facebook regarding the latter’s recently announced Libra cryptocurrency, claiming that it owns all the rights to the “Libra” trademark.

Facebook’s Libra Faces Trademark Challenges

Earlier in June, social media mogul Facebook announced its upcoming Libra cryptocurrency in what was perhaps one of the most anticipated announcements among the community. 

Two short weeks later, however, Facebook is already facing legal challenges as an Israeli insurance company claims that it’s the owner of all rights associated with the “Libra” trademark. 

According to a local media report, Libra is a digital insurance company which entered the market more than a year ago and was founded by Eti Eliashkov. Commenting on the matter, the firm said in a statement:

One of the innovations that Libra brought was the creation of a digital currency, Libra, which was accumulated in a digital wallet that the company creates for its policyholders. […] Libra owns all the rights over the trademark “Libra”. The trademark is the insurance company’s brand identity card.

The company noted that any use of the Libra trademark would constitute a “flagrant violation of the intellectual property rights” belonging to the Israeli insurance company. 

Facebook Retaliates

The report also notes that the Israeli insurance company has already sent a notice to Facebook through its law firm, Liad Whatstein and Co. 

In response, Yoav Oestreicher, a legal representative of Facebook in Israel, said that the Libra trademark is owned by and refers to the Libra Association, a Facebook-controlled and non-profit organization in Switzerland. 

We have yet to see whether the Libra insurance company will pursue actual legal action. In any case, it’s a matter of serious interest as Facebook’s Libra has already created a lot of hype throughout the entire cryptocurrency community and even beyond it. There’s already been significant discussion regarding its properties and how it is different from Bitcoin.