Data claims that trademark application for crypto, NFTs and Metaverse projects increase in 2022

By Shashank Bhardwaj| Sep 7, 2022

2022 has seen a surge in businesses and individuals getting involved in crypto and blockchain, with many running to the USPTO to secure trademarks

Image: Noam Galai/Getty Images

Reportedly, the number of US trademarks filed relating to crypto assets, NFTs, Web3 and the Metaverse since January this year has passed those filed in 2021.

Mike Konduodis, an intellectual property lawyer, presented the data which showed that individuals and businesses filed upwards of 3,600 trademark applications for crypto and crypto-related services with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The same number in all of 2021 stood at 3,516.

According to his findings, the number of NFT applications have increased rapidly, from 2,087 in 2021 to more than 5,800 in 2022, and the year has not even ended yet. Meanwhile, the trademark filings for the Metaverse and Web3 have also more than doubled and are still on an upward trajectory with 1,866 in 2021 and 4,150 as of August 2022.

March had the largest number of trademark filings across all application types in 2022, with 1,078 for NFTs, 604 for crypto and 759 for the Metaverse. This could be attributed to the fact that Mark Zuckerberg had unveiled his plans to make NFTs available on Instagram. On the flip side, July and August had the lower number of trademark filing applications.

It seems that big-name companies are also getting involved, with Meta, Formula One, Mastercard, McDonald’s, Gatorade and the US Space Force all made filings with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) suggesting their involvement in crypto and blockchain. Meanwhile, the battle seems to be heating up elsewhere as reports suggest that luxury brand Hermès had filed a trademark application in the US for use of its name in the Metaverse, NFTs and virtual currency. This move comes following Hermès suing the founder of MetaBirkins for allegedly profiting from the sale of NFTs bearing the company's Birkin brand name.

The writer is the founder at yMedia. He ventured into crypto in 2013 and is an ETH maximalist. Twitter: @bhardwajshash