Unicoin Sues Uniswap Just Weeks Before its Token Launch

A Trademark Battle Heads to Federal Court

Unicoin has filed a lawsuit against Uniswap Labs in the Southern District of New York, escalating a months-long dispute over the use of the UNICOIN name and related branding. TransparentBusiness Inc., operating as Unicoin, filed suit against Universal Navigation Inc., operating as Uniswap Labs. The complaint asks the court to rule that its UNICOIN trademark does not infringe or dilute the $UNI, UNISWAP, and UNICHAIN trademarks claimed by Uniswap, and also seeks the cancellation of Uniswap's US trademark registration for UNI.

Beyond the non-infringement declaration, Unicoin claims the UNI prefix is widely used, pointing to more than 3,600 US trademark registrations containing UNI, and argues that "uni" is generic or descriptive and does not identify Uniswap as a single source.

The complaint says Uniswap's counsel sent three demand letters on June 3, July 17 and August 14, accusing Unicoin of trademark infringement, dilution, cybersquatting and unfair competition, and threatening further legal action. The letters demanded that Unicoin stop using UNICOIN and other UNI-formative marks, transfer its unicoin.com and unicoin.org domains, provide an accounting of revenue and profits, and reimburse Uniswap's legal fees.

Unicoin pushed back on the timeline. Unicoin rejected the demands and said it had independently used the UNICOIN name since 2021, before Uniswap maintained its infringement claims. The complaint also seeks a declaration that unicoin.com and unicoin.org domains do not violate the federal Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act.

Stakes Rise Ahead of the $UNCN Launch

The lawsuit was filed weeks before the September 28 public launch date that Unicoin lists on its website for the $UNCN token. The timing adds pressure to both sides as Unicoin attempts to move forward with its public offering while fighting legal battles on two fronts.

The trademark dispute is not Unicoin's only regulatory challenge. The SEC sued the company and several executives in May 2025, accusing them of raising more than $100 million through allegedly misleading and unregistered securities offerings. Unicoin CEO Alex Konanykhin denied the allegations and said the company would fight the case.

Uniswap, meanwhile, remains the dominant force in decentralized trading. At the time of writing, DeFiLlama ranked the Uniswap protocol first among decentralized exchanges by 24-hour volume, with more than $3.9 billion. The outcome of the trademark case could have broader implications for how crypto projects defend brand identity as the industry matures and naming disputes become more common.

Sources:
Cointelegraph: Unicoin Sues Uniswap Labs Over UNI Trademark Registration
Crypto.news: Unicoin Takes Uniswap to Court Over UNI Trademark Dispute
SEC.gov: Unicoin, Top Executives Charged in Offering Fraud That Raised More than $100 Million