Cardano is facing a lawsuit from their former business associates Z/Yen Group Ltd it has been revealed this week in an announcement from the company. 

The issue relates to a contract made in July 2017 by Cardano who had worked with Z/Yen Group Ltd, before cutting ties with them in 2018. After their dismissal, UK based Z/Yen Group Ltd claimed rights over information contained in a report called “The Quantum Countdown: Quantum Computing and the Future of Distributed Ledger Encryption.”

However, Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson looked to rubbish these claims from their former research partners. He was adamant that Cardano had not used any of the recommendations or information provided by Z/Yen Group Ltd. In the company notice published by Cardano, Hoskinson said:

“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.”

Hoskinson looked to shed more light on the issue in a Youtube broadcast. He tried to downplay the lawsuit claiming it was merely “old business” related to the former Chairman of Cardano foundation Michael Parsons and clarified that this was not an intellectual property issue, rather a commercial lawsuit. He said:

“It’s not an intellectual property dispute. It’s merely a commercial dispute. IOHK has nothing to do with this issue. There is nothing in what Z/Yen has done that has ended up in the protocol design the code or anything implemented in Cardano.”

In terms of its impact in the future, Hoskinson was sure that it would all be resolved quickly. It marks a slight blip in what has been a promising period for Cardano. The blockchain platform has seen a successful start to testing on its Shelley Mainnet.