[Patent Talk] Nike's Trademark Applications for Virtual Goods and the Metaverse

| Nike's Trademark Application No. 97133313, filed on November 18, 2021

Following Meta (formerly Facebook) and Microsoft, Nike also appears to be preparing for the metaverse era. Nike recently filed applications for a total of seven marks, including "NIKE," "NIKELAND" and "JORDAN," designating "downloadable virtual goods" in Class 9. Nike describes the virtual goods as computer programs featuring clothing, bags, sports equipment, dolls and the like.

"Metaverse," a blend of "meta," meaning transcendence, and "universe," refers to virtual worlds online. By securing trademark rights for virtual goods, Nike appears to be securing in advance the intellectual property rights relating to transactions in its virtual goods on metaverse platforms. A leading Korean metaverse platform is ZEPETO, an augmented reality (AR) avatar service operated by Naver Z. ZEPETO users can decorate their 3D avatars by purchasing various virtual items.

| Details of Nike's Trademark Application No. 97133313, filed on November 18, 2021

As the metaverse era arrives, the line between real and virtual space may become increasingly blurred. This means that transactions in virtual versions of offline brands' products may also become active in virtual space. It is not yet clear, however, whether trademark rights obtained for goods in real space extend to goods in virtual space. This seems to be why Nike filed trademark applications designating "downloadable virtual goods" in Class 9 separately from "clothing" in Class 25.

KIPO recently announced that a total of 18 metaverse-related trademark applications are under examination. However, those applications mainly designate "software for metaverse games, software for providing metaverse content, and metaverse software design and development services"; none of them designates virtual goods themselves, as Nike's do. In Korea, it appears that only companies providing metaverse platform services have filed trademark applications so far.

Given the size of the metaverse market, many manufacturers of offline goods are likely to begin designating virtual goods...

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LNB IP Law Firm