Metaverse Trademarks: A Guide to Notable Filings

Major brands are beginning to prepare for the metaverse.

In the past few months, hundreds of trademark filings have been made to protect iconic brands in this new digital frontier.

I recently spoke to AdAge about how trademark filings for the metaverse were not even on my radar until late in 2021.  Nowadays, I talk to clients almost daily about how to protect their brands in the virtual worlds that are coming.

The boom in metaverse-related trademark filings can be pinpointed to just after Meta Platforms, Inc (p/k/a Facebook, Inc) announced its name change and vision for the future in October 2021.

Why are the world’s largest companies filing new trademark applications for the metaverse?

To answer this, you must first remember that trademark protection is granted in relation to the products or services being provided. When filling out a trademark application, an applicant must choose which trademark “class” or “category” they are seeking to protect their product(s)/service(s) in. You can learn more about some of the most common trademark classifications here.

Trademark classifications are important, as they allow companies in different industries the ability to coexist and have trademark protection for their individual products or services.  Trademark classes allow for the chocolate company, Dove, to exist on the federal trademark register at the same time as Dove, the soap company. Another example of this would be Delta, which exists as both an airline company and a faucet manufacturer.

The reason we’re seeing such an influx of metaverse filings from the world’s largest companies is that while they may own trademark registrations for their existing products or services, they do not own similar registrations for the digital counterpart. For example, Nike, which was one of the first major retail brands to jump into the metaverse, owned trademark registrations for “shoes” (which is class 25), however, they did not own similar registrations for “digital shoes” (class 9). By filing to protect its products in the metaverse, Nike has ensured that not only can it monitor and enforce its brand within the new space, but that it has also significantly strengthened and broadened its overall brand protection.

Another example of filing for protection of virtual goods could be a company that sells shampoo, which is a class 3 product. This company may find themselves also applying for a trademark in class 9 (for digital goods and NFTs), class 35 (for a virtual store), and class 36 (for cryptocurrency).

What should companies do to protect themselves in the metaverse?

The first step that all companies, both new and old, should take is to conduct an audit of their current trademark portfolios. Once completed, they should be sure to file any additional trademark applications to cover the new classes of goods and services that will be possible in the metaverse or other digital worlds. When filing any new trademark applications, companies should be sure to file them in all countries in which the company operates (or may operate).

Having ownership of your company’s brand in the metaverse is going to be essential for fighting any potential infringement that may spring up in this new space. Many social media and e-commerce platforms already require trademark registrations in order to take down or put a stop to bad behavior. These additional trademark protections will also provide businesses of all sizes with better tools to deal with bad actors and counterfeiters, in not only today’s digital world but the digital worlds that are coming.

Read our complete guide to trademarks and the metaverse.

List of notable “metaverse” trademark filings

Here is a list of some of the world’s largest brands that have recently filed trademark applications for “virtual goods” or for launching a “virtual store” in the metaverse.

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Josh Gerben, Esq.

Josh Gerben, Esq. is the founder and principal of Gerben IP. In 2008, Mr. Gerben started the firm to provide high-quality trademark services at reasonable prices. Today, he is recognized by the World Trademark Review as a top trademark filer, having registered over 7,500 trademarks. The contents of this blog are for informational purposes only and may not be relied on as legal advice.