Alibaba Can’t Stop Cryptocurrency Company From Using Name

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. has failed to stop a cryptocurrency company from using the ALIBABA mark.

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York April 30 denied the Chinese e-commerce giant’s request to bar Alibabacoin Foundation from infringing the mark or misleading the public into thinking that Alibaba had authorized the mark’s use.

The court said it was “powerless” to grant the request in the absence of personal jurisdiction over the Dubai-based defendant. The court likely lacked jurisdiction because Alibaba failed to show Alibabacoin used its websites to transact with New York customers, or that it conducted ...