Despite a broader downturn in related markets, multinational corporations don’t appear to have slowed down on their trademark applications covering Web3, crypto, nonfungible tokens (NFTs), and the Metaverse. The month of February — now drawing to a close — saw the likes of General Motors and Lacoste, and Walmart making their territory with Web3-related trademark applications. January was an even busier month. One of the latest NFT-related filings involved automotive giant General Motors, which filed for two new trademark applications on Feb. 16 covering its Chevrolet and Cadillac brands. According to the filing, the firm is interested in downloadable digital …

Crypto proponents would be wise to keep their eyes on nonfungible token (NFT) and metaverse trademark applications this year, which are “reliable signals” of future-use plans. Speaking to Cointelegraph, intellectual property lawyer Michael Kondoudis said while many people may think big corporations are just jumping onto the NFT trend as a novelty, “it is not possible” to register a trademark in the United States with no intention to use it. Despite a relatively low cost for filing an application — ranging from $250 to $350 per class of goods/services — Kondoudis explained when a company submits a trademark application, it …

Celebrities facing huge losses from BAYC NFTs The hype behind the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) over the last year resulted in many celebrities investing in the Ethereum-based nonfungible token (NFT) collection with many, such as singer Justin Bieber, paying top dollar. Bieber paid 500 Ether (ETH) for BAYC #3001 on Jan. 29, which at the time was valued at around $1.28 million, while the current top offer on the NFT cracks just over $69,500. According to data from NFT Price Floor, the floor price for the collection has fallen considerably since it peaked at 144.9 ETH on May. 1 …

National Basketball League (NBA) megastar Steph Curry looks set to introduce his own version of the Metaverse to NBA’s 650 million fans — filing a “Curryverse” trademark application on Oct. 26. If approved, the United States-based trademark application, filed by SC30 Inc. will grant the four-time NBA champion exclusive rights for “entertainment services, namely, personal and virtual and metaversal appearances.” According to the filing, the “Curryverse” will also provide “online gaming services in the nature of virtual worlds,” where players will be able to earn both fungible and nonfungible tokens (NFTs), which will be able to be bought or sold …

Major credit card company Visa may be planning to explore digital wallet services based on two recent trademark applications. According to records submitted to the United States Patent and Trademark Office on Oct. 22, the Visa International Service Association filed two applications for its character mark to be used in software “to view, access, store, monitor, manage, trade, send, receive, transmit, and exchange” crypto assets and nonfungible tokens, or NFTs. The filings also suggested the credit card company may be exploring a move into the metaverse, with its namesake used in “virtual environments in which users can interact for recreational, …

Crypto exchange Coinbase has found itself in legal hot water after being accused by blockchain-based software firm Veritaseum Capital of infringing on a patent relating to its blockchain technology — and is now seeking $350 million in damages. According to a lawsuit filed on Thursday by U.S. law firm Brundidge & Stanger in the U.S. District Court in Delaware, Veritaseum alleges that Coinbase infringed on its cryptocurrency payment transfer technology patent, known as the “566 Patent.” Veritaseum said the patent revolves around “novel devices, systems and methods” which enable parties to “enforce value transfer agreements” with “little or no trust” …

The number of U.S. trademarks filed related to cryptocurrencies, nonfungible tokens, Web3, and the metaverse since January have reportedly passed those in 2021. According to data compiled by intellectual property lawyer Mike Kondoudis on Tuesday, individuals and businesses filed more than 3,600 trademark applications with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for cryptocurrencies and crypto-related services as of Aug. 31, compared to 3,516 in 2021. In addition, Kondoudis reported that the number of nonfungible token, or NFT, applications had surged even higher — more than 5,800 in 2022 compared to 2,087 in 2021 — while the number of trademark …

Polium, a company that markets itself as “building the products and infrastructure for Web3 gaming,” has said it's launching a gaming console that will support multiple blockchains and nonfungible tokens (NFTs). The “Polium One” console announced on Monday is slated for an initial Q3 2024 release and will support the Ethereum, Solana, Polygon, BNB Chain, ImmutableX, Harmony, EOS and WAX blockchains. We are introducing the Polium One, A multi-chain console for Web 3 Gaming. #Web3OnConsole pic.twitter.com/tkRaP2O13A — Polium (@Polium__) July 2, 2022 Currently, the only specifications listed for the console are that it will support a 4K Ultra HD resolution …

Payments giant Mastercard has filed 15 nonfungible token (NFT) and metaverse trademark applications with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, or USPTO. Highlights of the filings include plans for a virtual community for interacting with digital assets, processing of payment cards in the metaverse, an online marketplace for buyers and sellers of downloadable digital goods, virtual reality events and more. One trademark filing for the company's “Priceless” slogan consists of multimedia files such as artwork, text, audio and video, that are authenticated by NFTs. Another application illustrates plans for its red and yellow “Circles” logo in order to process …

One of the hallmarks of the crypto industry since its inception has been its commitment to open source development as well as its transparency-centric ethos. This is best made evident by the fact that many prominent projects operating within the digital asset sector and decentralized finance (DeFi) arena today have essentially been derived from other prominent projects such as Bitcoin Cash, SushiSwap and many others. In this regard, the Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA), a group that promotes the advancement of cryptocurrency-enabled technologies by removing patents as a barrier to growth and innovation, recently welcomed social media giant Meta as …

The Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA) has welcomed Meta as a member, with the social media giants vowing to make its core crypto patents accessible to all. Meta, formerly Facebook, has joined the COPA, a group that advocates for public patents on crypto and blockchain-related technologies. On Monday, the organization published a statement announcing Meta and noting that Shayne O'Reilly would be its representative. By joining COPA, Meta will become one of 30 other businesses committed to not enforcing their "core cryptocurrency patents." The general manager of COPA, Max Sills, describes "core cryptocurrency patents" as any "technology that allows the …

It appears that retail giant Walmart Inc. is getting ready to enter the Metaverse with patent filings indicating that it plans to create its own cryptocurrency and NFT collection. The multinational retailer filed several new trademarks with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Dec. 30, however, they remained unnoticed until a Jan. 16 report by CNBC shed more light on Walmart’s ambitions. Walmart filed a total of seven patent applications at the time, including three under its existing advertising division “Walmart Connect”. The applications included plans to create and sell “virtual goods,” including the likes of electronics, toys, appliances, …