Matter Labs’ attempt to register “ZK” as a trademark has sparked strong opposition from the crypto community. Their actions are seen as an attempt to privatize a public technology, which goes against the common interests and spirit of the crypto community. The following is a joint statement from several ZK technology inventors and researchers, expressing their strong condemnation of this behavior.
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Controversy over zkSync trademark application
Multiple ZK companies jointly issue statement of opposition
“ZK should belong to the public”
zkSync responds: Trademark registration does not imply exclusive ownership of the technology
Matter Labs, the developer behind zkSync (ZK), has submitted trademark applications in nine countries, claiming “ZK” as its exclusive intellectual property. This action is seen as a transparent attempt to claim ownership of technology that does not belong to them.
Original creators of ZK or zero-knowledge encryption technology, academic cryptographers, and notable ZK project researchers and developers have jointly condemned Matter Labs’ actions. They believe that ZK is a public good and should belong to everyone, rather than being proprietary to a single company.
The statement points out that Matter Labs has tried to use its trademark application to persuade exchanges to allow the registration of tokens using the “ZK” code, further solidifying their claim to this technology. They emphasize that this behavior goes against the spirit of the crypto community, the Ethereum community, and the academic community, and even contradicts Matter Labs’ own mission of “making the world better by increasing people’s freedom.”
The signatories of these statements argue that ZK technology should remain a public good and should not be registered as a trademark by any company, but rather should be open to everyone. They believe that those who are dedicated to ZK technology understand that they stand on the shoulders of those who came before them, and the creation and development of these technologies come from collective wisdom, rather than being monopolized by a single company.
Today (5/30), the signatories of the statement call on the community to demand that Matter Labs withdraw all trademark applications and cease using the “ZK” code. They urge Matter Labs to reflect on its actions and adhere to its own standards.
The following important figures in the crypto field have jointly signed this statement:
– Shafi Goldwasser (Turing Award winner, co-inventor of zero-knowledge proofs, scientific advisor at StarkWare)
– Silvio Micali (Turing Award winner, co-inventor of zero-knowledge proofs, technical development at Algorand)
– Eli Ben-Sasson (StarkWare CEO, founding scientist of Zcash, co-inventor of ZK-STARKs)
– Sandeep Nailwal (Co-founder of Polygon)
– Tiancheng Xie (Co-founder of Polyhedra Network, inventor of zkBridge)
– Brendan Farmer (Co-founder of Polygon)
– Elias Tazartes (Co-founder of Kakarot)
In response, zkSync states:
“ZK technology belongs to the community, plain and simple.
We applied for ZK-related trademarks to ensure the term ‘ZK’ can be freely used in ‘ZK Sync,’ ‘ZK Stack,’ and other related names. Whether you like it or not, trademarks are the only legal tool available today.
A common misconception is that owning a trademark means you have legal rights to a specific word or phrase and can prevent others from using it. However, you have no rights over a general word or phrase, only how it is used in connection with your specific goods or services.
In other words, we are committed to finding a suitable structure for the ZK trademark that allows everyone building ZK technology to use it. We invite other ZK projects to join this effort.
ZK technology, especially the term ‘ZK,’ is and must always be a public good that is freely accessible to everyone.”
These experts’ commitment to preserving the public good and engaging in ideal debates is indeed passionate; however, in a market that focuses only on memes, it seems to receive little attention.
Matter Labs
StarkWare
ZK
zkSync
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