Matter Labs, a prominent figure in the blockchain industry, has taken substantial steps to address the recent dispute regarding the trademarking of critical phrases such as "zero-knowledge" (ZK).
A Community-Driven Resolution to the Matter Labs Trademark Application Conflict Concerning "ZK"
Matter Labs is grateful to people like Vitalik Buterin and NEAR founder Illia Polosukhin for their invaluable input in an effort to guarantee the terms' continuous accessibility and avoidance of misuse.
A fully supported community proposal calls for the creation of a non-owner legal organization that would be tasked with holding trademarks for ZK and related phrases. This body would grant free trademark rights to all parties, under the direction of an unbiased and reputable organization or community member. Furthermore, the corporation has undertaken to financially assist the establishment of this community-led trademark-holder body and has promised not to submit any more Matter Labs trademark applications for ZK.
Reaction to Matter Labs' Trademark Application Allegations
But there have been critics of the issue as well. Marc Boiron, CEO of Polygon Labs, encouraged Matter Labs to pay the legal fees of those who opposed Matter Labs' trademark application, guaranteeing its permanent closure to stop future abuse.
The action was taken in response to criticism that Matter Labs' trademark applications, which sought to assert exclusive intellectual property rights over "zero-knowledge" technology, had previously been made in nine different nations. Stakeholders claiming collective ownership of ZK technology, including Polygon, StarkWare, Polyhedra, and Linea, have angrily resisted these measures.
According to Matter Labs, its goal is to protect the term "ZK" in relation to its projects—such as ZK Sync and ZK Stack—while allowing the community to continue using it more widely.
June 2024, Cryptoniteuae