Matter Labs Abandons ‘ZK’ Trademark Following Community Outcry

Matter Labs, the developer behind the ZkSync Ethereum Layer 2 network, has decided to abandon its efforts to trademark the term “ZK.”

In a June 3 update, Matter Labs said its decision to abandon its efforts to trademark the term “ZK” stems from the logic that “it is impossible to agree on a group of people that everyone considers reliably neutral.”

Matter Labs abandons “ZK” branding efforts.

Matter Labs had previously filed to trademark the term Zero-Knowledge (ZK) in nine countries, and later clashed with Polyhedra Network over the use of ZK as a ticker symbol. This led to a week-long dispute with the Polyhedra network, which condemned Matter Labs' actions and accused it of bullying and undermining Web3's principles.

Soon after, several industry players supported Polyhedra and argued that such a move by Matter Labs would privatize public resources.

As the backlash intensified, Matter Labs dropped its branding plans and made this clear in an official statement statementwhat may work within the Ethereum ecosystem will not necessarily be applicable or effective on a global scale, given the diversity of perspectives, interests, and stakeholders involved.

“We are proud to be part of a movement that cares deeply about cypherpunk values. We are extremely grateful to the zksync community in particular for the thousands of messages of support we have received, once again confirming that community is everything. ZK Summer is right around the corner.”

opposition

Prominent key figures from ZK projects, such as Shafi Goldwasser and Silvio Micali, co-inventors of ZK proofs, Sandeep Nailwal and Brendan Farmer, co-founders of Polygon, and Eli Ben-Sasson, CEO of StarkWare, issued a joint statement expressing strong opposition to the move.

The statement stressed that “ZK” should be maintained accessible for all parties involved while at the same time addressing concerns that moving forward with the branding would alienate Matter Labs from the very community it claims to serve.

StarkWare, a software company developing ZK-resistant technology, deemed this behavior “oppressive.” Subsequently, the Linea 2 layer solution powered by ConsenSys also rallied behind industry supporters and condemned Matter Labs for trying to violate the spirit of the cryptocurrency industry by pursuing the trademark.