Metaverse: Patent Infringement In Virtual Worlds

If patent holders want to exclude others from using their invention, then they need to keep an eye on the marketplace to spot infringers. Because the metaverse opens up a new, virtual and potentially endless space where infringement can occur, "virtual patent infringement" may be the next domain for enforcement. This post shakes free of the real world to dive into the metaverse and its potential for building virtual machines and algorithms that could, in theory, infringe patent rights. Before we get there, however, we should define the metaverse and discuss computing's history with virtualization.

I. What Is the Metaverse?

I have discussed the metaverse in an earlier post and presented on its implications to IP law, but broadly speaking, the "metaverse" is a collection of technologies that virtualizes spaces and things. As examples, a 3D world that you can explore in virtual reality (VR) is part of the metaverse (a virtual space), but so are the in-world objects