There have been more than 3,600 trademark applications for cryptocurrencies and crypto-related services with the US Patent and Trademark Office as of August 31, compared to 3,516 in 2021, which shows data compiled by Mike Kondoudis, an intellectual property lawyer. He saw a surge in the number of NFT applications – more than 5,800 in 2022 compared to 2,087 in 2021.
Data also suggests that the number of trademark filings related to the metaverse more than doubled to 4,150 in August 2022 from 1,866 in 2021. The largest number of filings in 2022 was recorded in the month of March across all three application types. There were 1,078 filings for NFTs, 604 for crypto, and 759 for the metaverse. The months of July and August saw the lowest number of applications.
In March, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said they are preparing to make NFTs available on Instagram. Hermes, a luxury brand, has also filed a trademark application in the United States for the use of its name in the metaverse, NFTs, and cryptocurrency. This comes after it filed a lawsuit against MetaBirkins founder Mason Rothschild for allegedly profiting from the sale of non-fungible tokens bearing the company’s Birkin brand name.
Other big name companies like Formula One, Mastercard, McDonald’s and Gatorade, etc. have made trademark filings with the USPTO for virtual products, crypto, and the blockchain.
