Trademark dispute has crypto asset management project Melon renamed waterMelon

Blockchain asset management protocol project formerly known as Melon today announced that “despite its compliance with BNY Mellon’s request to give up its trademarks in order to satisfy a trademark objection to the name of the project, they have returned with yet more demands.”

Mona El Isa, Co-founder, and President MAMA, said: “We were recently asked by BNY Mellon’s law firm (Walder Wyss) to sign a cease and desist declaration which would have included the following…”

• Undertaking by Melonport Ltd., Mona Elisa (CEO) personally and Jenna Zenk (CTO) personally;
• Undertaking to cease and desist in all jurisdictions from any use, in writing, orally, or otherwise, directly or indirectly, of „Melon“ as a standalone term or in combination with generic terms, including but not limited to „Melon Protocol“, „Melon Fund“, „Melon Chain“, „Melon Mail“, „Melon Asset Management“, “Melon Council“ and „Melon Smart Contract“; in particular, all references to “Melon” shall be removed from the website at www.melonport.com;
• Undertaking to replace “Melon” with “MP” or “MLNP”;
• Undertaking not to apply for or register „Melon“ as a standalone term or in combination with generic terms as a trademark in any jurisdiction;
• Undertaking not to make statements or representations, or otherwise communicate, directly or indirectly, in writing, orally, or otherwise, or take any action that may, directly or indirectly, disparage, ridicule, or defame BNY Mellon or that may be derogatory or detrimental to or reflect unfavorably on BNY Mellon’s good name or business reputation;
• A contractual penalty of CHF 10‘000 for each violation of the above undertakings. In case of a continued violation (e.g. on the website), an additional penalty of CHF 1‘000 per day after notification by BNY Mellon, in writing or by email, shall accrue until the violation is discontinued

Mona El Isa, Co-founder of waterMelon, said:

“Signing such a declaration would obviously leave my colleagues and I in a difficult financial position when considering our weekend grocery shopping or even just our daily conversational habits. As a result, we have not signed such a declaration but instead agreed to remove and refrain from using the word “Melon” on our website (www.melonport.com) and documentation page (docs.melonport.com).”

“Moving forward, you will notice that we will be using the wording waterMelon when describing the project formerly known as Melon and MLNwhen referring to the token formerly known as Melon. We apologize to our followers for any inconvenience or confusion this may cause. We assume that this incident will now be finally resolved and that we can finally re-focus on our priority which as you all know has always been delivering the project formerly known as Melon. This will set the basis for a new infrastructure to underpin the asset management industry of the future.”