Earlier today, March 16, Cardano Foundation made an announcement on its website disclosing that Z/Yen Group Limited (UK) has initiated legal proceedings against it.

Z/Yen Group — Former Research Partner

Z/Yen Group Limited is a fintech think tank and a former research partner of the Foundation. Back in 2018, the two co-authored a report entitled “The Quantum Countdown: Quantum Computing and the Future of Distributed Ledger Encryption.”

Interestingly, Cardano founder, Charles Hoskinson, in a YouTube Ask Me Anything live stream from March 15, mentioned that his company is doing research on quantum-resistant signatures.

IP rights dispute?

The information released by the Cardano Information on the nature of these “legal proceedings” is scant:

“The proceedings relate to an alleged agreement between the Z/Yen Group Limited and the Cardano Foundation dated July 2017. The Cardano Foundation voided/terminated the agreement for various reasons. The Cardano Foundation fully rejects the claims raised by the Z/Yen Group Limited. Due to the ongoing nature of this judiciary process, no further information will be given while proceedings are in progress.”

Based on this information, one can only speculate that the case raises the issue of the ownership of intellectual property.

A Cardano Foundation spokesperson replied to Cointelegraph stating that “he has nothing to add to the announcement.”

Cointelegraph has reached the Z/Yen Group for comments but has not received it in time for publishing. We will update this article should we receive a response.