ENS developer Nick Johnson has called on blockchain domains company Unstoppable Domains to drop a recently awarded patent or face legal action. Johnson claims that the patent, which grants Unstoppable Domains the rights to a technology using blockchain to determine domains, is based entirely on innovations developed by ENS. Johnson argues that all ENS work is open-source and publicly available for implementation. He states that attempts to contact Unstoppable Domains about the issue have been unsuccessful. Unstoppable Domains has pledged its first patent to the Web3 Domain Alliance, but Johnson requests an unconditional and irrevocable patent pledge. Johnson warns that ENS is prepared to challenge the patent in court. Unstoppable Domains has not yet responded to the request. The crypto community has taken notice of the dispute, with some arguing that requiring organizations to join the Web3 Domain Alliance for rights over the technology goes against the open-source ethos.
