"ZK" belongs to whom? Registration of Zksync trademark triggers backlash from companies like Starkware: This is a public good.

Matter Labs' attempt to trademark "ZK" has sparked strong opposition from the crypto community. The move is seen as an attempt to privatize a public technology, going against the shared interests and ethos of the crypto community. Below is a joint statement from several ZK technology inventors and researchers expressing their strong condemnation of this behavior.

Trademark Controversy Arises with zkSync

Matter Labs, the development entity behind zkSync ZK, has filed trademark applications in nine countries, claiming "ZK" as its exclusive intellectual property. This move is seen as a transparent attempt to assert ownership over technology that does not belong to them.

Multiple ZK Companies Issue Joint Statement in Opposition

Original creators of ZK or zero-knowledge encryption technology, academic cryptographers, as well as prominent ZK researchers and developers from various projects jointly condemned Matter Labs' actions. They argue that ZK is a public good that should belong to everyone, not the proprietary property of a single company.

The statement highlights that Matter Labs has attempted to persuade exchanges to allow the registration of tokens using the "ZK" moniker through their trademark applications, further solidifying their claim over this technology. This behavior is deemed contrary to the ethos of the crypto community, the Ethereum community, and academia, and even goes against Matter Labs' own mission of "making the world better by increasing people's freedom."

"ZK Should Belong to the Public"

The signatories of these statements assert that ZK technology should remain a public good, not be registered as a trademark by any company, and be open to all. They believe that those dedicated to ZK technology understand that they stand on the shoulders of those who came before them, with the creation and development of these technologies stemming from collective intelligence, rather than being monopolized by a single company.

The signatories of today's 5/30 statement call on the community to demand that Matter Labs withdraw all trademark applications and cease the use of the "ZK" designation, urging Matter Labs to reflect on their actions and adhere to their standards.

The statement is jointly signed by several key figures in the crypto space:

– Shafi Goldwasser, Turing Award recipient, co-inventor of zero-knowledge proofs, StarkWare scientific advisor
– Silvio Micali, Turing Award recipient, co-inventor of zero-knowledge proofs, Algorand technical developer
– 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

zkSync Response: Registering a Name Does Not Equate to Owning Technology

In response, zkSync stated:

"ZK technology belongs to the community, plain and simple.

We applied for ZK-related trademarks to ensure that the term 'ZK' can be freely used in 'ZK Sync,' 'ZK Stack,' and other related names. Like it or not, trademarks are the only legal tool available today.

A common misconception is that having a trademark means you legally own a specific word or phrase and can prevent others from using it. However, you do not have rights over general words or phrases; you only have rights over how that word or phrase is used in connection with your specific goods or services.

In other words, we are working to find 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 all."

While the dedication of these tech experts to maintaining the public good and engaging in idealistic debates is commendable, in a market focused solely on memes, it seems to garner little attention.