The Spanish company EurocoinPay, dedicated to the provision of cryptoasset services, has achieved a legal victory in defense of its trademarks against Circle. As reported to CriptoNoticias, the ruling prohibited the American giant from using the original name of its euro stablecoin.
The conflict began three years ago, in 2022, when Circle, recognized for its USD Coin (USDC) token, which maintains the price of the dollar and is the second most capitalized stablecoin in the world, announced the launch of Euro Coin (EUROC).
The debut of this stablecoin, which has a 1:1 parity with the price of the euro (EUR), raised concern in EurocoinPay due to confusion that it could cause in the market. This is due to the similarity with his name and his crypto assets.
EurocoinPay has been operating since 2017 in the cryptocurrency sector in Spain under a family of brands that share the same denominator: “Eurocoin”. These are registered with the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO).
In 2017, furthermore, the Spanish company launched a stablecoin called EuroCoin (EUROC)as well as the crypto asset EuroCoin Token. For this reason, he later urged Circle to abandon its same denomination before the debut of its currency.
From an attempt at negotiation to a court: the case of EurocoinPay
Given Circle’s refusal to voluntarily cease the use of that sign, and after attempting to resolve the matter amicably, EurocoinPay decided to present precautionary measures. This before the Trademark Court of the European Union (EU) with the aim of protecting its trademark rights.
Circle responded with a series of legal actions before the EUIPO, requesting the invalidity of several EurocoinPay trademarks on the grounds that the term “Eurocoin” lacked distinctiveness. However, the body rejected the requests, confirming the validity of EurocoinPay’s records.
In this context, Circle chose to abandon the use of the “Euro Coin” denomination and change the name of its stablecoin to “EURC” in 2024, a name that continues to be implemented today by the American company.
As a consequence of this voluntary withdrawal, EurocoinPay withdrew from the initial precautionary measures, having achieved its main objective: to put an end to the use of a distinctive sign of its property. He emphasizes that, if this had not been the case, it could have caused serious reputational and commercial damage.
Circle filed a lawsuit that was later dropped
Although Circle had already decided to use the EURC name, in early 2025 it filed a lawsuit before the General Court of the EU, requesting the annulment of the resolution of the EUIPO appeals chamber.
Nevertheless, Circle withdrew this request at the end of May 2025, just before its IPO, the Court declaring the dismissal of the procedure in August.
“This outcome reflects the strategic importance of protecting intangible assets in highly competitive sectors such as cryptoassets,” commented EurocoinPay.
Currently, with the aim of consolidating its position in the cryptocurrency market, EurocoinPay is in the process of applying for authorization in Spain as a cryptoasset service provider (PSAV). This is before the CNMV, which, as CriptoNoticias reported, has already carried out more than 40 registrations.