Veritaseum Capital filed a lawsuit against the cryptocurrency exchange on Thursday in the U.S. District Court in Delaware concerning its digital trading technology.
Coinbase Global is being sued by Veritaseum Capital LLC, which claims that the crypto exchange has compromised on a patent awarded to Veritaseum founder Reggie Middleton.
Veritaseum has charged Coinbase with violating this patent through a number of its services, including its blockchain technology, Coinbase Cloud, Coinbase Pay, Coinbase Wallet, Delegate and Validator, and other technologies. The company is requesting $350 million in damages given the “substantial profits” Coinbase allegedly obtained through its claimed infringement.
Coinbase was “uncooperative” when Veritaseum Capital and Brundidge Stanger sought to resolve the dispute without going to court, according to Carl Brundidge, attorney for Veritaseum Capital. The court document also adds:
“Defendant makes, uses, sells and/or supports infringing products and services on the Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Ethereum and Solana platforms as well as NFTs for its products and offerings that run on top of and facilitate said platforms.”
In a 2019 settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Middleton and Veritaseum agreed to pay nearly $9.5 million to resolve allegations related to the company’s VERI token initial coin offering (ICO). The company was charged by the SEC with manipulating the token’s price and giving investors false information about prospective profits.