With more and more companies opening offices and shops in the
“Metaverse”, the subject of trade mark protection in
the Metaverse has become a heated debate. The EUIPO and national
offices have received a significant number of trade mark applications for
“virtual goods” and there are now a number of
registered trade marks which are being used in the Metaverse.
In July 2022, the EUIPO published guidance on the classification
of items relating to “virtual goods and NFTs” (more
information on the guidance can be found in our article here).
The Second Board of Appeal of EUIPO has now had to deal with
this question for the first time in two recent decisions concerning
the trade marks: METAVERSE FOOD (R2357/2022-2) and METAVERSE DRINK (R2356/2022-2). Therefore, the EUIPO now has
had to deal with the protection of the term “Metaverse”
as a trade mark for physical goods.
