Securitize has taken legal action to clarify that it does not infringe on patents held by tZERO, a blockchain-based financial infrastructure provider that has been operating since 2014. The dispute centers on two specific US patents, Nos. 11,216,802 and 11,394,560, which tZERO claims cover technology used in Securitize’s DS protocol and Vault Registrar.

How the dispute unfolded

The saga kicked off on June 15 when tZERO Group sent a cease-and-desist and reservation-of-rights letter to Securitize. The letter alleged that Securitize’s core tokenization infrastructure, specifically its DS protocol and Vault Registrar, infringes on two of tZERO’s patents.

tZERO holds a portfolio of 105 patents spread across 23 patent families worldwide.

tZERO is looking beyond Securitize

What makes this dispute particularly significant is that Securitize appears to be just the opening act. tZERO is reportedly investigating at least six other market participants for potential intellectual property infringements related to its patent portfolio.

tZERO has been building blockchain-based financial infrastructure since 2014, years before tokenized real-world assets became the buzzword du jour.

The patents in question relate to compliant tokenized capital markets infrastructure.

What this means for the tokenized asset market

For investors evaluating tokenized asset platforms, this introduces a new risk category: intellectual property exposure. A platform might have excellent technology, strong partnerships, and growing transaction volume, but if its core protocol infringes on someone else’s patents, none of that matters.

Companies facing similar allegations from tZERO will need to either negotiate licensing agreements, redesign their technology to work around the patents, or fight the claims in court.