Ethereum Name Service Challenges Unstoppable Domains Patent

The Ethereum Name Service (ENS) has filed an official petition to annul a patent granted to Unstoppable Domains (UD) by US authorities in January 2023.

ENS Update ?: In 2023 Unstoppable Domains (UD) obtained a patent for technology ENS Labs developed as open-source. Today, we petitioned USPTO to challenge the validity of that patent, and to ensure the web remains a collaborative space. Here’s why and what’s at stake. pic.twitter.com/Qxls0kkP6G

— ens.eth (@ensdomains) May 2, 2024

According to the company, this move aims to keep the internet “a space for collaboration.”

In November 2023, ENS lead developer Nick Johnson published a letter to UD, accusing them of intellectual property theft. He responded to the patent acquisition for “Blockchain Domain Resolution,” which he claims is entirely based on open-source technology from their service.

The petition states that the organization “thrives on decentralization and public benefit.” The UD patent threatens to distort or destroy their core vision and beliefs. Specifically, they believe that fundamental web functions should be free.

“We need to fight this to ensure that ENS remains unrestricted for everyone,” the company asserts.

Managing partner of Cinneamhain Ventures, Adam Cochran, declared the UD patent invalid. He stated that ENS-developed domain names should remain “a perpetual public good.”

Good.

The UD patent is not valid.

Blockchain namespaces were designed by ENS and should be open intellectual property and a perpetual public good.

One of the critical values in this space is building in the open and not creating IP capture. https://t.co/KjEpEvlS0G

— Adam Cochran (adamscochran.eth) (@adamscochran) May 2, 2024

“One of the most important values in this space is to build openly and not capture intellectual property,” he explained.

ENS also received support from the DeFi Education Fund. Representatives expressed solidarity in defending and promoting open-source protocols.

Massive s/o to the team at @ensdomains who today stood up for the development of open-source software and transparent, inclusive and accessible systems through petitioning the USPTO to invalidate a patent granted to Unstoppable Domains.

We are mission aligned with ENS in… https://t.co/rHe2T9fAGF

— DeFi Education Fund (@fund_defi) May 2, 2024

Critics within the crypto community have emerged. A competitor’s representative, known as MarketerCrypto, noted that ENS “incites its friends not to work with UD and exhausts investors with high fees.”

@ensdomains nothing left for them but to attack UD. They are malicious people who exhaust investors with high fees, and incite their friends not to work with UD, and they do not know that we are @unstoppableweb
good way to hide your failure !https://t.co/K2RgsZ2xuI pic.twitter.com/FwQwMUAGf2

— Marketer.crypto | Emarketing.eth | eth.zeta (@MarketerCrypto) May 2, 2024

Another user, ishmilly, saw ENS’s actions as “an attempt to bully.” In his view, patents are not granted without due process. The critic urged resolving this issue in court rather than starting debates on X.

This is classic ens dao gaslighting.

Patents are not granted without due process. If you want to petition the USPTO keep that in court not on Twitter.

You didn’t protect your alleged IP and now you are looking for support from the same community you called squatters ?

FOH https://t.co/uuWmDt7rbO

— Ishmilly (@ishmilly) May 2, 2024

Unstoppable Domains founder Matthew Gould stated that ENS is mentioned in the patent alongside other similar services. He explained that the document was reviewed with these references in mind and deemed valid.

Following this, Johnson urged the competitor to briefly describe the key innovations in the patent that were not part of ENS, but received no response at the time of writing.

Perhaps you can summarize, Matt, for all the people on Twitter who don’t have time to read the whole patent. What’s the key innovation your patent covers that wasn’t already part of ENS?

— nick.eth (@nicksdjohnson) May 2, 2024

Back in August, the Polygon Zero team accused Matter Labs of code theft. According to the statement, the latter’s recent update, named Boojum, contained fully copied parts of the SNARK Plonky2 protocol.