Arbitrum Is No Longer “Patent Pending”

Table of Contents

• What is Arbitrum?
• Back Story On The Patent
• Recent Activities

Arbitrum announced on Twitter that they are no longer patent-pending. This was a big step for them as they march on towards the mainnet launch.

"We're thrilled to announce that Arbitrum is no longer patent pending‼️ Arbitrum is a community project, and abandoning the patent was a critical step for us in preparation for our upcoming mainnet launch."

What is Arbitrum?

Arbitrum is an open-source cryptocurrency platform being built at Offchain Labs. Arbitrum is scalable, private, and trustworthy while remaining compatible with the languages and tools that most devs are already using. This combination of benefits makes Arbitrum an exciting prospect.

Another interesting aspect of Arbitrum is the “AnyTrust Guarantee,” which allows the project to guarantee correct execution as long as any one validator of a dapp is acting honestly, even if everybody else is cheating. This is a huge difference from other major protocols, which require 2/3rd majority.

Back Story On The Patent

The patent was “a relic of our university roots” and not something Arbitrum intended to use. 

Our founders have a long history of developing open access tools including threshold ECDSA ( @sgoldfed ), Blocksci ( @hkalodner ), and the Princeton crypto course/textbook (@EdFelten,@sgoldfed).

As Arbitrum morphed into a community project, they realized the importance of formally abandoning the patent. They spoke to Princeton about it and received support from the University.

“As Arbitrum matured into a community project, we began to realize that despite the history and our good intentions, it was important to formally abandon the patent. We spoke with Princeton, explained the community ethos and values, and they were fully on board….We needed Princeton's agreement to abandon the patent, and we are very grateful to them for taking this step. Special thanks to the many community members who advocated for this and helped us pull it off including @VitalikButerin , @peterk , @tasdienes , and @barrywhitehat”

Recent Activities

While the mainnet is right around the corner, Aribitrum and Offchain Labs had been busy last month sponsoring ETHDenver, an Ethereum hackathon that took place between February 5 and February 12. They collaborated with 1inch Exchange to sponsor this hackathon.

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.