Trademarks Protect NFTs, Virtual Products, and Virtual Services
The future is here, and it’s virtual. The Metaverse will happen, and it’s going to be big. It will bring both significant business opportunities and risks, including risks to trademarks. That makes trademark protection for virtual uses critical as brands begin their entries into the Metaverse.
The Rush Into The Metaverse Has Started
Companies are already moving into the Metaverse, and brands are collaborating with digital platforms to launch virtual products and experiences. For example, Gucci recently partnered with Roblox to offer an award of a limited-edition bag that was later sold online for over $4000!
Experts project that Metaverse revenue could grow to over $400 billion by 2025. The time has come for companies to consider:
(1) how their brands will be perceived and engaged in these new digital platforms; and
(2) the risks that come with these new opportunities.
Metaverse Trademarks Protect NFTs, Virtual Products and Virtual Services
Trademark protection has become a key issue as companies and brands plan their entries into the Metaverse. Trademark laws protect brands. More specifically, trademark laws protect brands by protecting trademarks from exact imitation (copying) and from the use of confusingly similar trademarks by competitors.
Trademarks are a way to strengthen your brand and protect it from misuse by the competition. Trademarks can protect product names (e.g., an NFT authenticated product), a company name, a service (e.g., a crypto exchange marketplace), or a phrase used to identify a brand. Names, logos, and slogans are the most common types of trademarks. Trademarks are an easy, cost-effective marketing tool that you can use in any shape or form!
Do you need help with your trademark?
Examples of NFT and Metaverse Trademarks
Every day, forward-thinking companies are applying to register their trademarks for use in virtual reality. This includes applications covering virtual products and services that will fuel the Metaverse, as well as NFTs and crypto collectibles. For example:
Nike: The footwear and apparel giant filed applications for virtual clothing, footwear, and sporting equipment.
McDonald’s: The restaurant chain filed trademark applications for virtual food, beverages, and stores featuring home delivery.
The New Your Stock Exchange: The NYSE filed an application for cryptocurrency and crypto exchanges.
Victoria’s Secret: The clothier filed applications for virtual clothing and fashion shows
Billie Eilish: The recording artist filed applications for NFTs and Multimedia authenticated by NFTs
Waiting to Trademark Your NFT or Virtual Product for the Metaverse is Risky
Waiting to confirm trademark rights for virtual products and services comes with many risks. The most significant risk is that a company may find it difficult to enforce its rights in the Metaverse and combat infringement. Why?
Trademarks are not without limits. Trademark protections usually apply only to the products and services listed in a trademark registration and those reasonably related to them. So, for example, a trademark registration for running shoes could cover all athletic footwear and even socks and sandals. But, will that same trademark registration cover computer code that looks like a shoe when rendered in virtual reality? The answer is probably no. After all, footwear and computer code are not all that similar. This is uncharted territory. This is why companies are rushing to file new trademark applications for virtual products and services.
Do you need help with your trademark?
How to Figure Out If Your Trademark is Protected for the Metaverse
Trademark protection for the Metaverse is essential. So, how can a company determine whether its trademarks are protected for the Metaverse? Just ask this one question:
Do you have a federal registration for virtual products or services for each trademark you intend to use in the Metaverse?
If the answer is no and you haven’t applied to get them, your trademarks are probably not protected for the Metaverse.
Final Thoughts
If need any more reason to register your NFT, blockchain and virtual product trademarks for the Metaverse, consider the cost vs. risk. The cost to register a trademark is on the order of a few thousand dollars. By comparison, the cost to litigate whether a trademark registration for a physical product or service covers computer code can easily be ten or even 100 times more. Trademark registration is an ounce of prevention to avoid a pound of cure.
Every company contemplating moving into the Metaverse needs to develop a trademark protection strategy. Also, that trademark protection strategy should include trademark registration for virtual products and services.
For more than twenty years, Michael Kondoudis has been the go-to trademarking expert for businesses of all shapes and sizes. Michael is a USPTO-licensed trademark and patent attorney, educator, speaker, and author of the Amazon best-seller: Going From Business Owner to Brand Owner. He is also an authority trusted by national news media on major trademark stories.
Fun Facts: Michael is a member of the Bar of the U.S. Supreme Court and an actual rocket scientist (B.S. Astronomy and Astrophysics, Indiana University 1994).
