SAN FRANCISCO — The encrypted messenger service Telegram may not yet have an operational network for the cryptocurrency it has reportedly raised some $1.7 billion to help develop. But that's not stopping the company from going after another crypto startup that also wants to use the term “gram” as the name for its digital coin.

Represented by attorneys from Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, Telegram Messenger Inc. on Friday filed a trademark suit in federal court in San Francisco against Lantah LLC, which has an address registered in Florida and presents itself as building an online marketplace where “buyers and sellers can effortlessly use their currency of choice to participate.” That includes a cryptocurrency it's developing called “gram.”

According to the complaint, Telegram is planning to launch its Telegram Open Network, or TON, for use with its own “GRAM” cryptocurrency “in the fourth quarter of 2018.” It argues that it has acquired “common law trademark rights” in the term GRAM, and that Lantah is infringing by trying to register the trademark “gram” for its cryptocurrency.

“Lantah's use of 'gram' for a cryptocurrency will inevitably cause a likelihood of consumer confusion, harm the goodwill in Telegram's service mark, and cause confusion as to the source, origin, and/or sponsorship of Telegram's cryptocurrency services,” the complaint says.

“As a consequence of its extensive activities in commerce in support of its cryptocurrency and TON, including successfully executing purchase agreements for GRAMs … Telegram has established service mark rights in the mark GRAM for financial products and services relating to cryptocurrency,” it adds.

Daniel Jeffery, the founder of Lantah who submitted the trademark registration for the company, did not respond to a request for comment in response to the lawsuit on Monday.

The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month that Telegram had scrapped plans for a public “initial coin offering” to raise money for its digital payment platform after raising $1.7 billion through purchase agreements for the tokens with some 200 wealthy investors.

The lawsuit points to reports that venture capital firms Sequoia Capital and Benchmark have entered into deals to buy GRAM tokens as further evidence that it has been conducting commerce using the name.

“Not only has it been widely reported since late 2017 that Telegram's offering of Purchase Agreements (using the GRAM mark) has been successful, it has also been the case that it has been widely reported that such [a] successful offering has included executing Purchase Agreements with purchasers located inside the Northern District of California,” the complaint says.

It is not clear whether Skadden has also been representing Telegram in the fundraising effort. Skadden attorneys John Neukom and Patrick Hammon did not respond to messages seeking comment on Monday.

Telegram was founded by Pavel Durov, a Russian programmer and the creator of a Russian social media site who has been living in self-exile from the country. Last month, Russian authorities blocked the messenger service, a move that has spurred street protests in Moscow, according to press reports.

Skadden, meanwhile, has come under the microscope in the investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller III into Russian interference in the U.S. election. Alexander van der Zwaan, a former associate at the firm, was sentenced last month to 30 days in jail for repeatedly lying to the special counsel team.