CoinList's new project sparks controversy! Real Casper developers accuse CasperLabs of trademark infringement and unfair competition.

Due to the outstanding performance of the previous crowdfunding campaign, a large number of users have registered for CoinList's crowdfunding project Casper (CSPR). However, the project has recently been accused of trademark infringement and unfair competition. Who filed the lawsuit and what are the details of the incident?

The following information is from Vlad Zamfir's civil complaint

The Origin of Casper and Vlad Zamfir

The plaintiff in this case is Ethereum Foundation researcher Vlad Zamfir, a prominent figure in the Ethereum community and a core developer of Ethereum's PoS (Proof of Stake) and Sharding architectures. Since 2014, Vlad Zamfir has been involved in Ethereum's PoS research with one of Ethereum's co-founders Vitalik Buterin, and in 2015, they named the developed protocol "Casper." Subsequently, they each pursued their respective versions of the research, including Vlad Zamfir leading Casper CBC and Vitalik Buterin leading Casper FFG (the version adopted in Ethereum 2.0).

In other words, Casper was originally named for the "technology" or "protocol," rather than any "project" name or trademark.

What is the Relationship Between CasperLabs and Vlad Zamfir?

When searching for news about CasperLabs in 2019, you will find that there was a certain level of collaboration between CasperLabs and Vlad Zamfir, with some foreign media evenclaiming CasperLabs as a blockchain project led by Vlad Zamfir.

Indeed, CasperLabs did have a collaborative relationship with Vlad Zamfir, but it was not as deep as the outside world imagined.

According to legal documents submitted by Vlad Zamfirrevealed, at the end of 2018, the CasperLabs team approached Vlad Zamfir, expressing their intention to adopt the CBC Casper consensus protocol he proposed, hoping he would assist in the research and development of the new blockchain as an independent researcher, and granted CasperLabs the right to use Vlad Zamfir's image and name. In return, CasperLabs would fund his research. Vlad Zamfir eventually accepted this proposal.

However, things did not unfold as simply as Vlad Zamfir had imagined.

Several months later, Vlad Zamfir discovered the seriousness of the situation. CasperLabs, in order to enhance the company's brand image, improperly used his name and reputation to mislead investors, and the funding for CBC Casper (Vlad Zamfir's research) fell short of expectations. This had a negative impact on Vlad Zamfir's research and reputation. Ultimately, in September 2019, Vlad Zamfir decided to terminate the authorization and end the collaboration.

CasperLabs Misappropriation of "Casper"

Initially, CasperLabs had asked Vlad Zamfir for permission to use the name "Casper" for its mainnet and token, but Vlad Zamfir refused. Therefore, looking back at the information from 2019, CasperLabs' token was actually known as "CLX," and the consensus mechanism was called the "Highway Protocol." However, in 2021, CasperLabs changed the token name to "CSPR," and the consensus mechanism was renamed the "Casper Highway Protocol." They promoted it as the Casper network, Casper protocol, Casper Highway Protocol, Casper blockchain, and even registered the trademark "Casper" with the United States Patent and Trademark Officehere.

This practice seriously misled investors and led to the continuous association of Vlad Zamfir's name with CasperLabs' project.

To prevent CasperLabs and others from using the term "Casper," Vlad Zamfir requested that CasperLabs transfer the "Casper" trademark to Vlad Zamfir's development company, CoorTech. CasperLabs agreed to this request, but to this day, the trademark is still under CasperLabs' ownership.

Seeking Legal Assistance

Finally, Vlad Zamfir decided to seek legal assistance, accusing CasperLabs of violating the United States federal trademark infringement law and California common law on unfair competition. Vlad Zamfir chose to file the complaint close to CasperLabs' crowdfunding date, possibly to impact CasperLabs' crowdfunding campaign. However, given the current market's high level of FOMO, even an event that severely affects CasperLabs' reputation may find it challenging to deter investors' desire to purchase.