A patent application has been filed for the Bitkopeck trademark, according to a Moscow news outlet. A kopeck is a small Russian coin, 1/100 of the ruble.

Rospatent, the Russian governmental agency in charge of intellectual property, received an application for the Bitkopeck trademark from Mai-Tech company, specializing in information and communication technologies, reports Moskva Agency of City News. However, the aim of the application is not fully clear: when reached by journalists, Mai-Tech refused any comments.

Russian users of Bitcointalk suppose that the application was filed in anticipation of the Russian state's attitude towards cryptocurrencies. “A patent for Bitkopeck costs just kopecks nowadays, and the prefix 'bit' obviously gains in popularity. In any case, they would be able to sell this patent at a higher price next year”, they argue.

This application closely follows another one, by the Russian electronic wallet platform Qiwi, which sought Rospatent to register Bitruble as a trademark. Qiwi announced its plan to create Bitruble, a Russian version of blockchain-based virtual currency. The decision provoked heated debate in the media, with the head of the Russia's largest bank admitting he owns digital currency himself and the Ministry of Finance releasing a draft law under which the emission of cryptocurrency would be sentenced to correctional works.

Alexey Tereshchenko