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A conflict of interest between X-Spot, represented by founder and former Huobi owner Li Lin, and the new owners of Huobi Global has arisen over the Chinese trademark 火币 (Huobi).
The lawsuit, which Li Lin filed in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Supreme Court, alleges that X-Spot has retained exclusive rights to the trademark 火币i, which the current Huobi Global administration uses without permission.
Li Lin assures that the original shareholders transferred Huobi Global’s securities to the About Capital Management fund on the condition of retaining the exclusive right to the trademark “Huobi” in its Chinese transcription. In turn About Capital guaranteed sellers that the rights to the trademark will not be transferred to the buyer Huobi. Thus, the asset transfer agreement between the two parties clearly stipulates that the buyer is prohibited from using the trademark and brand 火币i.
In response to X-Spot’s claim, Huobi Global argues that the exchange is free to use the site’s brand in all jurisdictions around the world. However, the rights to use trademarks in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region depend on the laws and regulations of the region. However, this does not apply to Huobi Global because the cryptocurrency site is not registered in Hong Kong.
Huobi HK, a subsidiary of Huobi Global, announced
May 29 that it has filed an application with the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) to license virtual asset exchange services.