According to March data, NFTs had the most trademark filings in the United States in 2022, with 1,078 for NFTs, 604 for cryptocurrencies, and 759 for the Metaverse.
Since January, the number of U.S. trademark related to crypto, nonfungible tokens (NFTs), Web3, and the Metaverse has reportedly surpassed those filed in 2021.
Individuals and businesses filed more than 3,600 trademark applications for cryptocurrencies and crypto-related services with the United States Patent and Trademark Office as of August 31, according to data compiled by intellectual property lawyer Mike Kondoudis on Tuesday, compared to 3,516 in all of 2021. Furthermore, Kondoudis reported that the number of NFT applications had increased even more — more than 5,800 in 2022 compared to 2,087 in 2021 — and that the number of trademark filings related to the Metaverse or Web3 had more than doubled: 1,866 in 2021 compared to 4,150 as of August 2022.
According to data from March, the month with the most filings in 2022 across all three application types was March, with 1,078 for NFTs, 604 for crypto, and 759 for the Metaverse, while July and August had the fewest.
In March, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the company was planning to make NFTs available on Instagram.
On September 1, Cointelegraph reported that luxury brand Hermès had filed a trademark application in the United States for the use of its name in the Metaverse, NFTs, and virtual currency, following the company’s filing of a lawsuit against MetaBirkins founder Mason Rothschild for allegedly profiting from the sale of NFTs bearing the company’s Birkin brand name. Furthermore, significant firms in and out of the crypto space, such as Meta, Formula One, Mastercard, McDonald’s, Gatorade, and the United States Space Force, have all filed with the USPTO in 2022, suggesting virtual products or involvement with crypto and blockchain.
