One Year On: Procedural Closure, Not Merit, Defined Unstoppable Domains Patent Ruling Against ENS, Critic Alleges

One year after the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) dismissed a challenge against Unstoppable Domains' patent for "Resolving Blockchain Domains," prominent figure Alexander Urbelis has publicly criticized the narrative surrounding the ruling. Urbelis asserted that the decision was a "procedural closure" rather than a substantive validation of Unstoppable Domains' claims, stating, "UD didn’t 'win' on merit — the PTO never even considered the substance of ENS’s prior art claims. Procedural closure ≠ validation." This statement reignites debate over the patent's legitimacy within the Web3 domain space.

The dispute centers on U.S. Patent No. 11,558,344, granted to Unstoppable Domains on January 17, 2023. This patent covers technology enabling blockchain domain names to function via smart contracts, facilitating features like gasless transactions and decentralized domain management, which Unstoppable Domains claims were integral to its .crypto registry since 2020. Ethereum Name Service (ENS) Labs subsequently petitioned the USPTO to invalidate the patent, arguing that Unstoppable Domains had patented technology originally developed and open-sourced by ENS.

On November 22, 2024, the USPTO's Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) ruled against ENS Labs, concluding that the company "failed to demonstrate a reasonable likelihood of prevailing on any of its challenges." The Board found that ENS did not provide sufficient evidence to support its claims of prior art, effectively closing the case without a full review of the substantive merits of ENS's arguments. This decision affirmed the patent's validity in the eyes of the USPTO.

Unstoppable Domains has consistently defended the patent's originality and the rigorous review it underwent. Matt Gould, CEO of Unstoppable Domains, stated, "We are proud that the USPTO affirmed the integrity of our intellectual property." The company also highlighted its non-assertion pledge for the '344 patent, extending it to .eth (ENS) and other Web3 Domain Alliance members, aiming to foster open innovation despite the legal contest.

Urbelis's recent remarks underscore a persistent point of contention, suggesting that the USPTO's ruling was a technical dismissal rather than an endorsement of Unstoppable Domains' innovation over ENS's alleged prior art. The ongoing dialogue reflects broader industry concerns regarding intellectual property, open-source principles, and competitive dynamics within the rapidly evolving blockchain domain sector.