Tried and Failed: Maker Foundation's Attempt to Patent "DeFi"

Set out to rid the decentralized finance space, free from scammers, DeFi creators tried to patent the term ‘DeFi’. However, this was short-lived as the United States Patent and Trademark Office rejected the registered application last January. Since then, Maker has no plans to refile.

DeFi’s product portfolio is varied, from loan to loans and commercial products. As their portfolio increases, they are equally ahead in terms of competitive advantage, as such their ether locked contracts and funds blocked in the contracts can be used as a stimulant for the demand of DeFi products. To put in numbers, Maker generated 1.4 million ether in contracts valued at an estimated $272 million (reported as of 23 Aug).

As the filing of Maker suggests, DeFi is defined as the root for all “online currency market service”, such as creating a market whereby digital asset trading is possible. The foundation itself constitutes of two ERC – 20 Tokens alongside the stablecoin (DAI) and Maker (MKR).

In an interview, Maker’s initial efforts were to try and speak on improving the ecosystem:

“The Maker Foundation applied to the registered trademark “DeFi” intending to make it available to the entire community for free use, while protecting the brand from being captured by bad actors. We saw other projects trying to mark the “stablecoin” brand and we didn’t want that to happen here too.”

Mark Bronstein of Dharma supported Maker in his attempts to prevent those fraudulently exploiting the system and protecting the necessary and legal resources keeping intact the integrity of the movement.

“We are glad that Maker has taken steps to prevent rent-seekers from exploiting what is clearly a community-driven meme.”

Images via Shutterstock