Qureshi Challenges DFINITY Claim About NEAR Intents’ Patent Use

Dragonfly partner Haseeb Qureshi challenged DFINITY founder Dominic Williams’ claim that NEAR Intents used DFINITY’s threshold ECDSA technology without authorization, citing patent timing, implementation basis and infringement questions.

Williams said the technology was licensed only for Internet Computer. He also alleged that a former DFINITY employee fired in 2021 helped advance the work. TokenPost previously covered Williams’ accusation against NEAR Intents.

Qureshi said the related patents received grants in late July 2026 and NEAR changed the algorithm in September. Using Williams’ timeline, he argued the period in dispute after the grant may have lasted about a month. He also argued that conduct before the patents were granted should not be treated directly as infringement because they were still applications.

Qureshi pointed to an academic paper that first published the algorithm under a CC BY license and said NEAR cited it in its implementation. He questioned whether Williams’ accusation was justified in light of that licensing and citation history.