ENS Developer Accuses Unstoppable Domains of Stealing Open Source Developments through Patent Filings
Nick Johnson, the founder of Ethereum Name Service (ENS), has raised serious concerns regarding Unstoppable Domains’ patent filings related to blockchain domain names.
In an open letter addressed to Unstoppable Domains, Johnson accused the company of appropriating ENS’ open source developments through these patent applications.
An Open Letter RE: Blockchain Domain Name Patents
Since its founding in 2017, ENS has been a consistent and outspoken advocate of open source, open standards, and the importance of governing the global namespace as a public good.
— nick.eth (@nicksdjohnson) November 16, 2023
“All of our work is licensed under open-source licenses, and all our standards are publicly available for anyone to implement,” Johnson wrote.
“As a result of our commitment to these values, we have not pursued patents on our work. By contrast, Unstoppable Domains has begun doing so, despite stating it supports open innovation.”
One specific patent, numbered US11558344 and titled “Resolving Blockchain Domains,” was granted to Unstoppable Domains earlier this year.
Johnson said that this patent is entirely based on innovations developed by ENS and does not introduce any novel concepts.
He noted that Unstoppable Domains has continued to pursue additional patents, including an application for reserving names similar to the “Sunrise Phase” commonly used in the DNS world for years.
Unstoppable Domains has attempted to address the concerns by issuing a press release in which it pledges its first patent to the Web3 Domain Alliance, an industry group founded and managed by Unstoppable Domains.
However, Johnson emphasized that press releases do not hold legal weight, and their organization cannot rely on nonbinding pledges when
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