Matter Labs of zkSync faces opposition over “ZK” trademark

Alex Gluchowski, CEO of Matter Labs, has responded to the backlash.

Rivalry between solutions is becoming fierce in the Ethereum Layer 2 area due to the growing popularity of zero-knowledge technology.

The decision by zkSync to use “ZK” as its ticker during the last week has highlighted these growing conflicts. But now that the project team seems to be trying to trademark the term, things are going to become very heated.

Top executives from StarkWare, Polygon, Polyhedra, and Kakarot—the companies behind the ZK cryptocurrency—took to Thursday, May 30 to announce that Matter Labs—the company behind zkSync—had applied for trademarks in nine countries, claiming ZK as their exclusive intellectual property.

The business heavyweights described Matter Labs’ action as “a clear effort by a company to claim control over something that does not belong to it” in their open letter. Noting that Matter Labs did not only own the technology, but had also not contributed to its invention, the group emphasized how repulsive they found the move.

The organization maintains that ZK should continue to be considered a public benefit. They rallied the locals to oppose Matter Labs’ trademark applications and have them withdrawn.

Not long ago, CEO Alex Gluchowski of Matter Labs responded to the letter. Gluchowski responded to the letter by saying that Matters Lab is still dedicated to libertarian and cypherpunk values and that all of their products are available under open-source licenses.

The chief executive officer of Matter Labs, on the other hand, claims that the company’s trademarks are “defensive” and thereby serve to safeguard consumers against imitators. In addition, Gluchowski said that the company had contacted the Ethereum Foundation for assistance in drafting legislation to authorize the use of ZK and similar terminology in the public domain.

On the other hand, Gluchowski’s claims have not been convincing. “This action is really not cypherpunk!” StarkWare Head of Ecosystem Abdel Bakhta responded, “I am not persuade sir.”

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