Ethereum Name Service Challenges Unstoppable Domains Patent

ethereum Name Service (ENS) has asked the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to challenge the validity of a patent obtained by Unstoppable Domains (UD) in 2023. ENS claims that UD's patent uses technology that ENS had developed and open sourced. .

In a statement on social media platform x, ENS explained that UD obtained a patent for a technology that ENS Labs developed with the intention of being open source.

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

– ens.eth (@ensdomains) twitter.com/ensdomains/status/1786045291365638621?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw” target=”_blank” rel=”nofollow noopener noreferrer”>May 2, 2024

Both ENS and UD provide domain name and wallet services with top-level domains (TLDs) such as .crypto, .eth, and similar brand names forming an affinity with the crypto space. ENS alleges that UD patented “ENS' pioneering technology, directly leveraging our open source innovations” and that ENS' contributions were even cited in the patent.

“We gave UD every opportunity to avoid this battle: UD refused to open source the patent and refused to make irrevocable promises not to use the patent to the detriment of the community,” ENS stated.

In response to the petition, Unstoppable Domains founder Matthew Gould stated in x that the patent was reviewed by the examiner with ENS citations in place. gould twitter.com/matthewegould/status/1786067295841722529″ target=”_blank” rel=”noopener nofollow noreferrer”>argument that the patents are valid and that “patent filing is very common in both web3 and the domain industry.”

In this regard, Nick Johnson, lead developer of ENS, asked Gould to cite the key innovation in the UD patent that was not already part of ENS.

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Maybe you can summarize, Matt, for all the people on twitter who don't have time to read the full patent. What is the key innovation covered by your patent that was not already part of ENS?

– nick.eth (@nicksdjohnson) twitter.com/nicksdjohnson/status/1786092398935957522?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw” target=”_blank” rel=”nofollow noopener noreferrer”>May 2, 2024

At the time of writing, Gould has not yet responded to Johnson's query, so the latter posted a non-response. twitter.com/nicksdjohnson/status/1786127406694105362″ target=”_blank” rel=”noopener nofollow noreferrer”>two cricket emojis.

In his initial response to the ENS thread, Gould maintains that Unstoppable Domains has several other patents pending and will continue to file patents to “protect” the company. Gould also mentions that his company had taken a non-affirmation commitment more than a year ago and believes the problem is resolved.

In July 2022, Unstoppable Domains raised $65 million in a Series A round led by Pantera Capital, raising the company's valuation to $1 billion unicorn status. ENS, on the other hand, operates on the basis of a set of decentralized smart contracts for a public and open infrastructure.