zkSync developers launched a trademark battle over "ZK" and were jointly boycotted by multiple crypto leaders

Written by: Nancy, PANews

as L2 The ZK track, the main narrative force of the track, is facing a trademark battle. Recently, zkSync developer Matter Labs has triggered protests from many projects after submitting the "ZK trademark application", including Polyhedra Network, Polygon and StarkWare, which have jointly boycotted.

Polyhedra published a post accusing zkSync of stealing ZK project code, and multiple projects jointly boycotted

The story begins on May 24, when zkSyncTokenLaunched under the name "ZK"exchange Bybit 的现货交易，随后引起同为 ZK 项目的 Polyhedra Network 不满，该项目的代币代码正好也为「ZK」。Polyhedra Network 在发推文中表示，尽管 ETH ETF 已经在 2024 年获批，但仍有项目为一己之利而「抢夺」他人应得的项目代码，Web3 的本意不是成为霸凌的温床，且该项目还号召CommunityDefending fairness and justice, they even directly named zkSync.

数天后，Polyhedra 再次发推文称，「zkSync 从未与我们联系过，zkSync 在不同实体之间不断地散布谣言。如果每个发行代币的项目都面临着被投入大量资金的项目夺取其项目代码的威胁，那么整个行业将变得混乱，并带来重大的监管问题。」随后，Polyhedra 在 HashKey Global 上市时将其代币代码更改为 ZKJ，象征着「ZK Join」——一个团结、开放的 ZK 社区。目前，Polyhedra 在各交易平台的上市代码已均 ZKJ，以回应为期一周的商标争议。

At the same time, Matter Labs’ filing of “ZK” trademark applications in nine countries has also caused widespread dissatisfaction in the crypto industry. To this end, Polyhedra, Polygon and StarkWare jointly issued an open letter. In addition to Polyhedra co-founder and zkBridge inventor Tiancheng Xie, Polygon co-founders Sandeep Nailwal and Brendan Farmer, StarkWare CEO Eli Ben-Sasson,Zero knowledge proofIndustry leaders including co-inventor and Algorand founder Silvio Micali, Turing Award winner and ZK-proofs co-inventor Shafi Goldwasser, and Kakarot zkeVM co-founder Elias Tazartes signed the letter, which called on Matter Labs to withdraw its trademark application, calling it an "oppressive act."

Among them, Polygon tweeted that in keeping with the true spirit of Ethereum, Polygon Labs has always released open source code for the benefit of everyone, and this commitment is a great help to the entirecryptocurrencyPolygon Plonky2 has been widely adopted, and one of the beneficiaries is Matter Labs, whose core ZK technology also utilizes Polygon Plonky2. Despite relying on others' ZK technology, Matter Labs seeks to register the "ZK" trademark to potentially restrict others from using the technology. If one company has a monopoly on ZK technology, do users really benefit? Would zkSync exist without the ZK technology developed by Polygon Labs? No, its trademark registration of "ZK" would actually harm users through confusion. Openness is the foundation of Ethereum and must be preserved, especially with regard to core mathematical principles.

「Matter Labs 声称 ZK 是其独有的知识产权，但他们既没有创造也没有对这项技术的创造做出贡献。通过利用法律系统将公共资源据为己有，Matter Labs 违背了加密货币、以太坊及其自身原则的精神。」StarkWare 则在推文指出，且 Eli Ben-Sasson 还表示，Matter Labs 试图将 ZK 技术注册为商标的行为是一次「荒谬的知识产权抢注」。

Matter Labs responded: We oppose ZK as intellectual property, and the registration is to protect users.

5 月 30 日，这场「商标归属战」的主角 Matter Labs 终于在社交平台发文作出回应，ZK 技术属于社区的，且必须永远是一个公共财产，向所有人自由开放。Matter Labs 申请了与 ZK 相关的商标，以确保「ZK」这个词可以在「ZK Sync」、「ZK Stack」等相关名称的语境中自由使用。不管你喜不喜欢，商标是目前唯一可用的法律工具。一个常见的误解是，拥有商标意味着你合法地拥有某个单词或短语，并可以阻止他人使用它。然而，你并没有对这个单词或短语的一般权利，只有在你特定的商品或服务中使用这个单词或短语的权利。Matter Labs 致力于为 ZK 商标找到适当的结构，使其对所有构建 ZK 技术的人都可访问。ZK 技术及其术语应始终保持作为公共产品，自由提供给所有人使用。

At the same time, Matter Labs founder and CEO Alex also responded that Matter Labs is an avid supporter of libertarianism, the spirit of cypherpunks, and the values described in the ZK creed. They oppose the idea of "intellectual property" and everything they create is released to the public under a free open source license. Trademarks exist to protect users rather than companies. All trademarks that Matter Labs has ever registered, including those related to ZK, are defensive to prevent dishonest actors from misleading customers and confusing their products and services with those provided by Matter Labs (unfortunately, this has been the case in the past). Previously, Matter Labs contacted the Ethereum Foundation's legal team and proposed to work together to create a legal framework to enable "ZK" and similar important technical terms to be used in the public domain. Now the team asks others to participate in this initiative, especially those projects that have applied for trademarks related to STARKs.

Prior to this, the zkSync ecosystem runaway project ZKasino was criticized by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin for not using any ZK technology. He also expressed concern about the increasing mainstreaming of the term "ZK", believing that the term has been abused to the point that even scammers have begun to use this buzzword.

有意思的是，以太坊 L2 项目也来「横插一脚」，Taiko 在 X 平台表示，本周已经进行关于代币代码的一些讨论，考虑到对所有人都公平，并且注意到另一个项目已经使用 TKO 作为其代码，因此决定将代币代码更改为 TAIKO to prevent conflicts and facilitate token listing.

The community is also arguing about this trademark dispute. Some people believe that Polyhedra's initial token code was ZKB, and later changed to ZK, which was also suspected of riding on the popularity, and judging from the X registration timeline, Zksync was registered in 2019, earlier than Polyhedra in 2023. Others believe that ZK is a public product and not any specific project. Using this name is nothing more than a lack of confidence in one's own project and is deceptive to investors who do not understand it.

Today, as brands become increasingly important, creating a trademark "golden signboard" has become an effective way to establish widespread popularity.Xiaobai NavigationIt is also an important weapon for project/enterprise market strategic competition. However, various cases in the past have also shown that products are the more critical factor in whether a golden signboard can be polished.

The article comes from the Internet:zkSync developers launched a trademark battle over "ZK" and were jointly boycotted by multiple crypto leaders

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