The zkSync developer triggered a trademark battle due to "ZK" and was collectively resisted by multiple encryption leaders.

Author: Nancy, PANews

As a market maker in the L2 track, the ZK track is facing a trademark dispute. Recently, Matter Labs, the developer of zkSync, has sparked protests from many projects after submitting a “ZK trademark application”, including projects such as Polyhedra Network, Polygon, and StarkWare, which have jointly boycotted it.

Polyhedra accuses zkSync of snatching ZK project code in a published article, multiple projects jointly boycott

The incident dates back to May 24th, when the token of zkSync was listed on the spot trading of the exchange Bybit under the name “ZK”, which then sparked dissatisfaction from Polyhedra Network, another project with the token code also being “ZK”. Polyhedra Network expressed in a tweet that despite the approval of the ETH ETF in 2024, there are still projects that “grab” others’ rightful project codes for their own benefit. The true intention of Web3 is not to become a breeding ground for bullying, and the project even called on the community to defend fairness and justice, directly naming zkSync.

Several days later, Polyhedra tweeted again, saying, “zkSync has never contacted us, and zkSync keeps spreading rumors among different entities. If every token issuance project faces the threat of having its project code taken by projects with a large amount of funding, the whole industry will become chaotic and bring significant regulatory issues.” Subsequently, when Polyhedra was listed on HashKey Global, they changed their token code to ZKJ, symbolizing “ZK Join” - a united and open ZK community. Currently, Polyhedra’s listing codes on various trading platforms are all ZKJ, in response to the one-week trademark dispute.

At the same time, the widespread dissatisfaction within the encryption industry was aroused by Matter Labs’ submission of “ZK” trademark applications in nine countries. In response, Polyhedra, Polygon, and StarkWare jointly issued an open letter, signed by industry leaders including Tiancheng Xie, co-founder of Polyhedra and inventor of zkBridge, Sandeep Nailwal and Brendan Farmer, co-founders of Polygon, Eli Ben-Sasson, CEO of StarkWare, Silvio Micali, co-inventor of Zero-Knowledge Proofs and founder of Algorand, Shafi Goldwasser, Turing Award winner and co-inventor of ZK-proofs, and Elias Tazartes, co-founder of Kakarot zkeVM. The letter called for Matter Labs to withdraw the trademark application, denouncing it as “oppressive behavior”.

Polygon tweeted that, in line with the true spirit of Ethereum, Polygon Labs has always released open source code for the benefit of all, which has had a positive impact on the entire cryptocurrency field. Polygon Plonky2 has been widely adopted, with one beneficiary being 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 this technology. Would users truly benefit if a company monopolizes ZK technology? Would zkSync exist without the ZK technology developed by Polygon Labs? No, the trademark registration for “ZK” would actually cause harm to users through confusion. Openness is the foundation of Ethereum and must be preserved, especially in terms of core mathematical principles.

“Matter Labs claims that ZK is its exclusive intellectual property, but they have neither created nor contributed to the creation of this technology. By using the legal system to monopolize public resources, Matter Labs has violated the spirit of cryptocurrency, Ethereum, and its own principles.” StarkWare pointed out in a tweet, and Eli Ben-Sasson also stated that Matter Labs’ attempt to register ZK technology as a trademark is a “ridiculous intellectual property grab.”

Matter Labs Response: Opposing ZK as Intellectual Property, Registration is for User Protection

On May 30th, Matter Labs, the protagonist of this “trademark ownership battle,” finally responded on social media, stating that ZK technology belongs to the community and must always be a public asset, freely accessible to everyone. Matter Labs applied for trademarks related to ZK to ensure that the word “ZK” can be freely used in the context of names like “ZK Sync” and “ZK Stack.” Whether you like it or not, trademarks are currently the only available legal tool. A common misconception is that owning a trademark means you legally own a word or phrase and can prevent others from using it. However, you do not have general rights to that word or phrase, only the right to use it in connection with specific goods or services. Matter Labs is committed to finding the appropriate structure for the ZK trademark to make it accessible to all who build ZK technology. ZK technology and its terms should always remain as public goods, freely available to everyone.

Meanwhile, Matter Labs’ founder and CEO, Alex, responded by stating that Matter Labs is a passionate supporter of the values described in libertarianism, cypherpunk spirit, and the ZK creed. They oppose the concept of “intellectual property” and everything they create is released to the public under a free open-source license. The existence of trademarks is to protect users, not the company. All trademarks previously registered by Matter Labs, including those related to ZK, are defensive measures to prevent dishonest actors from misleading customers and confusing their products and services with those provided by Matter Labs (unfortunately, this has happened in the past). Previously, Matter Labs contacted the legal team of the Ethereum Foundation and proposed collaborating to create a legal framework to ensure the use of “ZK” and similar important technical terms in the public domain. Now, the team is requesting others to participate in this initiative, especially projects that have applied for trademarks related to STARKs.

Before that, the zkSync ecosystem’s Rug Pull project ZKasino had been criticized by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin for not using any ZK technology, and he also expressed concerns about the increasing mainstream popularity of the term “ZK”, believing that the word has been overused to the extent that even scammers have started to exploit this popular term.

Interesting, the Ethereum L2 project also made a move. Taiko on the X platform stated that there have been some discussions about the token code this week. Considering fairness to everyone and noting that another project has already used TKO as its code, it was decided to change the token code to TAIKO to prevent conflicts and facilitate the listing of the token.

In response to this trademark dispute, the community is also in heated debate. Some believe that the original token code for Polyhedra was ZKB, which was later changed to ZK, leading to suspicions of riding on its popularity. Furthermore, based on the registration timeline, Zksync was registered in 2019, earlier than Polyhedra’s 2023. Others argue that ZK is a public product rather than specific to any project, and using this name only shows a lack of confidence in their own project, which could be deceptive to unfamiliar investors.

In today’s world, where branding is becoming increasingly important, creating a “golden signboard” for a trademark has become an effective means of establishing widespread recognition. It is also an important weapon in the strategic competition of projects/companies in the market. However, various past cases have also shown that while a golden signboard may shine, the product is the more critical factor.