Trademarks Meet the New World
If you haven’t heard by now, the tech giant Facebook has renamed and fully rebranded itself as “Meta.” The company is preparing to launch a worldwide, digital virtual space known as the Metaverse. Although Facebook’s Metaverse is not yet live and functional, it is showing promise to provide an e-commerce experience, unlike anything we’ve seen thus far. Many businesses are now looking into how to take advantage of and profit from this new 3D virtual world. Competitors of Meta are also rushing to create Metaverses of their own. We look at how trademarks meet the metaverse in this brave new world.
With the Metaverse expecting to grow just as rapidly as Facebook itself did, companies are figuring out that there is likely a way to bring in revenue from the Metaverse. However, this means that companies also have to file new trademarks. These trademarks will allow them to sell virtual goods in virtual worlds like the Metaverse.
Why should businesses prepare updated trademarks for the Metaverse?
If your company is not yet entirely convinced about selling virtual goods and services in the Metaverse, you need to bite the bullet quickly. Trademarks protect your company from fraud, ensuring that your products are verifiable and recognizable. Believe it or not, some people are already preparing to live their lives in the Metaverse virtual world as much as possible. If your products aren’t available to them in this 3D world, your company could be missing out on significant revenue. You’re also increasing the likelihood that people will be able to make virtual knockoffs of your company’s products and services. Without a valid or updated
Trademark registration for this new virtual space, your company will have a hard time enforcing its rights.
How will the Metaverse impact my business?
The Metaverse opens up a wholly digital world where users will be living lives parallel to their ones in the physical world. Think about it for a minute. There will be people all over the world living a second life. A life that is entirely digital but also wholly their own. This new way of life will provide new data in marketing and branding.
Marketing data collectors can use the way people interact and behave in the Metaverse to establish new marketing trends or modify existing ones. Marketers will then use these trends to increase sales in the physical world and the virtual world. In the virtual world, people get to be whomever they want to be apart from who they are in the physical world. They may want different things. They may behave in different ways because they can. Marketing teams can use the data pulled from the Metaverse and compare that to marketing data drawn from the physical world. With this comparison, they can figure out the best marketing strategies to increase sales.
Additionally, marketing teams can advertise their products and services in the Metaverse (branding) for sale in the physical and virtual worlds. This practice alone can double sales and help businesses reach a stream of otherwise unreachable people. The Metaverse is set to be worldwide almost immediately, allowing companies to gain more potential customers faster. Branding can be done in the Metaverse similarly to the physical world, such as on storefronts, park benches, and billboards. However, the Metaverse also facilitates branding through NFTs using cryptocurrency.
Why would someone pay for virtual goods?
The primary question presented by companies unfamiliar with the digital world is, “why would someone pay for virtual goods?”. Essentially, their concern is why someone would buy something that they can’t physically own. However, consumers are already doing this on a smaller scale today when you think about it. We have audiobooks, digital music, and digital art downloads. Metaverse takes it to a new level to provide people with a fully interactive virtual world. This world will mimic the real world, including its social norms and rules, as time progresses.
What exactly does that mean? When one enters the virtual world, the goal is to have them join as themselves. They’ll have an avatar and will desire to dress it in name-brand clothing, shoes, backpacks, and so on. This is where trademarking for the virtual world comes in and why companies are taking action. The Metaverse is not a video game. It’s a real-time, interactive 3D virtual world. People will meet with friends for a virtual lunch, hop on a plane and “travel” abroad, conduct business meetings in conference rooms, and more. Ideally, people will want to dress the part for these various activities because their “avatar” will be visual to the people around them.
Have any companies already prepared trademarks for the Metaverse?
Several big-name companies have begun trademarking their goods and services for the Metaverse. The most well-known examples include:
- Nike – to sell their shoes and clothing in the Metaverse
- Converse – to sell their shoe brand and enhance marketing
- Hot Wheels – to sell toys in the Metaverse
- Walmart – to sell their wide variety of goods
- Ticketmaster – to buy tickets to virtual concerts only available in the Metaverse
- Victoria’s Secret – selling lingerie and hosting fashion events
- Panera Bread – selling virtual foods/drinks to be presented in the Metaverse
These are just a few examples of companies that are ahead of the curve. These companies have already submitted multiple trademarks to be able to remain protected as they sell goods and services in the Metaverse.
Final Thoughts
The Metaverse is set to open up a whole new digital world and increase global reach. The goal of the Metaverse is to provide an interactive, fully immersive, 3D virtual world where you can do anything from host a business presentation to hang out at the beach in Greece. Residents of the Metaverse can own real estate, purchase goods, pay for services- you name it!
Trademarking your business for the Metaverse is vital to protecting your brand and increasing revenue.
You don’t want someone creating knockoffs of your brand and selling them! Marketing in the Metaverse also offers a completely new channel for income to your business. Registering a trademark for the new world is essential to the success of your business.
Get in touch with Lauren McDonald for advice on adapting your trademark portfolio for the Metaverse!
References
https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/metaverse-impact-world-future-technology/story?id=82519587
