Kalshi Trademark Filing Links Prediction Markets to Gambling
Prediction market operator Kalshi has said its products are linked to gambling in a federal trademark application filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
In the application submitted last year, the company listed several industry classifications, including financial trading, financial exchanges, and communications, but also used language referring to bookmaking services and activities related to sports betting.
Trademark applicants in the US must specify the industry classes associated with their goods or services using standard terminology.
Kalshi said its filing was to broadly protect terminology associated with prediction markets rather than define its business model. The company has consistently said that its platform is a financial exchange regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
Kalshi Founder and Chief Executive Tarek Mansour has consistently stated that Kalshi is a neutral platform where users trade contracts, not a sportsbook setting odds, and the company has argued that the best prediction markets provide economic utility and should be regulated as financial derivatives.
The USPTO initially rejected Kalshi’s request to trademark the term ‘prediction market’, stating that it described a characteristic or function of the service rather than a distinctive mark, though it has been given an extension to revise and refile its application.
Industry observers and researchers have noted similarities between prediction markets and traditional betting products, such as the best sports betting sites, including the structure of wagers and user outcomes. Multiple state gambling regulators have pursued legal action against Kalshi across the US.
Washington Attorney General Files Lawsuit Against Kalshi
One of the latest legal cases was launched in Washington last week, where Attorney General Nick Brown filed a lawsuit alleging that Kalshi is running a gambling site in violation of state law.
The complaint says that Kalshi’s platform allows users to wager on sports events, elections, and other real-world outcomes, which the state argues meets Washington’s legal definition of gambling. The lawsuit cites alleged violations of the state’s Gambling Act and Consumer Protection Act.
According to the filing, users risk money on the outcome of events and receive payouts based on odds, while the platform offers wagering formats such as point spreads and proposition bets, which are prohibited under Washington law for online gambling.
The Attorney General’s office also alleges that Kalshi promoted its platform by linking its products to a wide range of events, including professional sports, despite Washington's prohibition on internet gambling since 2006. The lawsuit seeks to halt Kalshi’s operations in the state, recover funds lost by residents, and impose civil penalties.
State officials add that Kalshi's operation increases access to gambling, breaches state laws, and raises concerns related to consumer protection, an argument that has been echoed in multiple other US jurisdictions.
“Kalshi wants people betting on almost everything possible in life,” Brown said in a statement. “For Kalshi, every event, every tragedy is nothing more than a potential way for Americans to risk their fortunes.”
