Alex Gluchowski, the chief executive officer of Matter Labs, is totally against the basic idea of intellectual property. Notable Ethereum-related projects like StarkWare, Polygon, and Polyhedra came out openly against the initiatives of Matter Labs to stamp ‘zero knowledge’ as its intellectual property. The statement was signed by renowned industry insiders, including people at the helm of Polygon, Polyhedra Network, and StarkWare. It is a well-known fact that zero-knowledge Blockchain is a mechanism that improves the scalability and security of the developer community.
Decentralized applications can grab high throughput and speedy transactions with zero knowledge-powered Blockchain. The smart feature of ZK Blockchains is that they can leverage the strong security of existing layer 1 Blockchain networks. The ZK Blockchain is a great tool for protecting the personal information of users by reducing expenses via batched transaction publishing. Industry masterminds opine that zero-knowledge Blockchain is a public good that should belong to everyone. They point out that Matter Labs’ attempt to term ‘zero knowledge’ is against cryptocurrency and Ethereum’s ethos and basic principles. Their statement highlights that zero-knowledge should not be treated as a corporation’s trademark. Instead, it should be accessible to all.
The statement was confirmed by Polygon in an independent social media post, and the Ethereum Blockchain stated that openness is fundamental to Ethereum and should be preserved, taking into account core mathematical principles. They raised apprehensions about the benefits obtained by users if one business organization is engaged in the practice of monopolizing zero-knowledge technology. The Ethereum network explained that the zkSync can’t exist as a network without the ZK technology designed by Polygon Labs.
The crypto pioneers urged the community to demand the stepping back of Matter Lab’s trademark submission. The Matter Labs CEO clarified that trademarks are designed to protect the cryptocurrency community rather than business organizations. The new development underlines that all trademarks are designed to prevent dishonest elements from misleading its customer base. The Matter Lab and Ethereum are in discussions to chalk out a legal framework for ZK and other technology terminologies in the public domain. The signatories in the statement said that a business organization misusing the legal system violates the ethos of crypto, Ethereum, and the academic world.
The chief of Matter Labs informed us that all technology created by the company is released to the general public under a free, open-source license. Polyhedra recently changed its ticker symbol to ZKJ, and cryptocurrency organizations have criticized the latest move heavily. They recently stated that Web3 is never a breeding ground for bullying. Matter Labs is a promoter of the libertarian and cyberpunk ethos and values.
According to the Chief Executive Officer of StarkWare, the attempt to trademark ZK proofs is similar to a baker imposing a blanket patent on bread. It has been pointed out that the new development is an absurd definition of intellectual property. ZK proof is a vital component of digital identity solutions in the upcoming days.