Matter Labs, the company behind zkSync, has caused outrage in the crypto industry by filing trademark applications in nine countries to claim exclusive ownership of the term “zero-knowledge.” The move is seen as an “absurd IP grab” by industry experts, who have called for the withdrawal of the trademark filing. Notable figures, including Polygon co-founders Sandeep Nailwal and Brendan Farmer, have signed a public letter denouncing Matter Labs’ behavior. Despite the potential of zero-knowledge technology, experts argue that no single company should claim ownership of this paradigm. ZK-proofs, which are still in their infancy, hold great promise for future digital identity solutions and could be utilized as Europe’s new privacy-focused digital identity solution.
Industry demands withdrawal as Matter Labs files for 'ZK' trademark