OnePlus Trademarks Warp Charge

Dash Charge is one our favorite features on the OnePlus phones, but the company has now trademarked Warp Charge. The simplest explanation is that OnePlus ran into some trademark issues in the EU because the name clashes with the Bragi Dash,at the launch of the OnePlus 6, OnePlus curiously and cautiously had stayed away from using the word “Dash Charge” to address its unique fast charging implementation. The OxygenOS Open Betas around that time also had replaced the term “Dash Charge” with “charging rapidly”, and online stores in several regions started calling Dash Charge cables as fast charge cables.

The trademark application for the Warp Charge covers chargers,It was later found that OnePlus had begun phasing out the term “Dash Charge” because of a rejected trademark application in the EU. OnePlus’s “Dash Charge” was adjudged to be similar to Bragi’s “The Dash Pro” and Amazon’s “Dash Replenishment”, and as a result of these existing trademarks, OnePlus could not own the “Dash Charge” trademark in the EU.

OnePlus trademarks Warp Charge The current Dash Charge and (non-Super) VOOC charge at 20W while competitors like Huawei’s Super Charge go slightly higher to 22.5W. Huawei is testing a 40W charger, but Super VOOC is even more powerful – 50W (5V at 10A)

The application for “Warp Charge” was made at the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), and falls in the Nice class of 9. The Nice Classification system gives general information about the type of goods or services intended to be covered under the trademark. Nice Class 9 covers “apparatus, instruments and cables for electricity“; and OnePlus’s application is intended for representation related to “Data cables; power adapters; cell phone battery chargers; electrical adapters; batteries, electric; chargers for electric batteries; wireless chargers“. Curiously, OnePlus does not currently sell any wireless chargers, even though their trademark application makes a provision for its use on them, perhaps in anticipation for a future device.

The application for Warp Charge trademark is marked as “under examination” by the authorities. For now we think this is a simple case of rebranding.