Cinkciarz.pl celebrates a decisive legal victory after a ten-year battle against a rival currency exchange. Learn about the court’s ruling and the substantial reparation of PLN 2 million (EUR 440,000) awarded to Cinkciarz.pl.
In a ten-year legal battle against another local online currency exchange that had been using the rival company’s name as a keyword to promote its services in search engines, Cinkciarz.pl, a significant fintech company with headquarters in Poland that provides currency exchange and retail trading services, has announced its victory. In accordance with the court’s ruling, it must, among other things, pay PLN 2 million (EUR 440,000) in reparation to Cinkciarz.pl.
Trademark Case Won by Cinkciarz.pl in 2013
A reprimand, compensation, and charity donation to Cinkciarz.pl, a division of Conotoxia Holding, were ordered to be given by the proprietor of Internetowykantor.pl and Walutomat.pl, two online currency exchange firms operating in Poland. The court further ordered the guilty party to stop engaging in any unlawful activity involving the use of the rival’s name as keywords in Google Ads.
The case centered on the deliberate misspellings of the keywords “cinkciarz” and “cinkciarz.pl” used to manipulate search engine results and reroute users to rival websites. Despite receiving a pre-litigation notice, the defendant, Currency One, continued with these illegal practices, prompting Cinkciarz.pl to file a lawsuit in 2013 and get an injunction for the duration of the case.
Currency One challenged the ‘cinkciarz’ trademarks’ legality in the Polish Supreme Administrative Court and the CJEU. cash One claimed that “cinkciarz,” which historically referred to a street peddler, is descriptive of currency exchange services and should not be trademarked. Arguments hinged on this. However, both courts rendered decisions in favor of Cinkciarz.pl in this case. They verified that the word “cinkciarz” has no current linguistic connotation and is thus appropriate for use as a company name and trademark.
Finally, we won. We deserve a bigger compensation, so we’ll keep exploring. Marcin Pióro, Cinkciarz.pl’s founder and president, released the following remark due to our extensive legal history and our opponents’ illegal marketing practices. We’re Poland’s multi-currency exchange market leader, and we don’t mind competition. Healthy competition nevertheless requires fairness.
Currency One must apologize on its websites for one month and stop using “cinkciarz,” “cinkciarz.pl,” and related keywords in Google Ads, according to the Pozna court. The business must also repay 80% of Cinkciarz.pl’s legal fees and pay PLN 2 million (EUR 440,000) with interest. It must donate PLN 40,000 (EUR 8,800) to a nominated charity.
Creating an International Standard for Online Trademark Infringements
This case serves as an example of how it is unlawful to use identical phrases or purposeful misspellings in Google Ads in addition to a competitor’s trademarks. According to Cinkciarz.pl, this decision is expected to create a precedent for similar conflicts due to its significance beyond Poland’s borders.
“It’s quite typical to position websites on the Internet using a competitor’s trademarks or name. Janusz Mazurek, a partner and attorney at SSW Pragmatic Solutions, noted that many businesses do not know how to defend themselves against this or think it is fiscally unrealistic. The ruling we got in the Cinkciarz.pl case demonstrates how to pursue such claims and establishes that a business that engages in deceptive advertising is not immune from punishment.
This decision demonstrates how serious trademark infringements committed online may be as well as how businesses can fight back against such unethical behavior. The consequences of this decision should reassure companies who have been hesitant to take action against illegal advertising due to financial worries or a lack of knowledge.
“This decision sets a precedent that affects countries outside of Poland. According to Filip Balcerzak, a partner at SSW Pragmatic Solutions, “until yet, the amount of monetary damages granted in such cases has been symbolic.
A new financial report, a new director, and a new product
The first large-scale internet currency exchange in Poland was Cinkciarz.pl. It made the decision to grow its business in 2017 and launched the CySEC-licensed brand Conotoxia, which provides retail forex (FX) and contracts for difference (CFD) trading services.
Conotoxia, a division of Cinkciarz.pl, showed notable development by 2022. The group’s total FX transaction turnover reached $8.29 billion as a result of a noticeable increase in revenue and transaction volumes compared to the prior year, demonstrating strong performance across the whole range of services and businesses.
From $7.46 billion in 2021 to $8.29 billion in 2022, Conotoxia reported a 5% increase in their currency exchange turnover. Instead of using exact figures to indicate other measures, Conotoxia chooses to use multipliers and percentages to illustrate how much their performance has improved across different business sectors. Their number of active client accounts increased dramatically, virtually tripling and breaking all previous records.
In an effort to diversify its present FX and CFD portfolio, Conotoxia launched a new investment consulting service in March that was targeted at European retail traders and had a low entrance barrier. The new service provides individual investment advice to retail traders on particular financial instruments, as stated in a formal statement read by Finance Magnates.
Ireneusz Pukin took over as the Director of the national branch, succeeding Daniel Kostecki, who had held the position since the branch’s establishment in 2021. The transition occurred in 2023.
