Telegram Messenger Inc. has been ordered to pay nearly $625,000 worth of legal fees to a small cryptocurrency firm that it sued over using the ‘GRAM’ crypto-ticker and trademark.
In a Nov. 2 ruling, U.S District Judge Charles Breyer granted $618,240 in attorney’s fees for 1,030.4 hours work billed at $600 per hour. Lantah had requested compensation at a rate of $900 per hour, but the judge reduced the fees to meet the market rate for the services.
Lantah was also awarded $6,737.35 in costs that Telegram did not object to.
Lantah LLC has been defending the lawsuit since May 2018, after Telegram raised $1.7 billion through an initial coin offering (ICO) for GRAMs — the native token of its Telegram Open Network (TON) blockchain platform.
Telegram accused the firm of common law trademark infringement, unfair competition, and false designation of origin for trying to launch its own…