Blockchain-based infrastructure company tZERO said in a June 15 statement that it sent Securitize, a tokenization platform known for issuing tokenized securities and real-world assets, a cease-and-desist and reservation-of-rights letter after reviewing its intellectual property portfolio.
tZERO said the dispute centers on Securitize tools used to issue and manage tokenized securities, including systems that help enforce investor rules and keep track of who can hold or transfer a token.
- The claims haven't been tested in court, and tZERO's statement doesn't say that it has filed a lawsuit.
tZERO said its broader portfolio includes 23 patent families and 105 patents worldwide covering regulated crypto securities and tokenized capital markets infrastructure.
- The company also said it is investigating products from at least six other market participants and expects to send demand letters after finishing that review.
The patents named in the Securitize letter include U.S. Patent No. 11,216,802, which tZERO described as covering smart-contract-based compliance rules and a global investor registry, and U.S. Patent No. 11,394,560, which covers a crypto integration platform.
The company also highlighted other patent families related to tokenized fund creation and redemption, consolidated cross-venue order books, decentralized trade ordering and privacy-preserving transaction systems.
- Securitize made no public comments on the matter as of press time.
- TZERO was working on regulated tokenized securities years before real-world asset tokenization became a market buzzword.
- In 2016, tZERO and Overstock issued what they described as the world's first SEC-registered digital security using tZERO-developed technology.
- Two years later, tZERO issued its own preferred security token after raising $134 million from more than 1,000 investors.
More on tokenization: PreStocks says tokenized stocks remain backed despite Anthropic warning