NFT and Metaverse Trademark Filings Double in 2022 Despite Crypto Winter

New data finds that there has been double the amount of metaverse and NFT trademarks filed in the first three quarters of 2022 compared to the full year of 2021. Interestingly, this is despite the so-called ‘crypto winter’ that has caused tensions in the cryptocurrency markets.

Data presented by BitStacker.com shows that from January 2022 to September 2022, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) received 6,290 trademark applications relating to NFTs (non-fungible tokens). This is a growth of 188,66% compared to the 2,179 trademark applications in the whole of 2021, and a huge increase in 2020 where there were just 18 NFT trademark applications.

There was a similar increase in the number of metaverse trademark applications. So far, 2022 has seen over 4,600 applications compared to just 1,798 for the whole of 2021. An increase of over 156%. The figures were retrieved from The Law Office of Michael E. Kondoudis, a metaverse trademark attorney.

Increased NFT and metaverse trademark filings in 2022

2022 has been the busiest year so far for NFT trademark filings. Each month of the year has seen at least 400 trademark applications. The most prolific month was March 2022 when there were 1,064 applications filed, whereas September 2022 was the quietest month with 435 applications filed.

This follows the positive trend for NFT trademark filing that was recorded throughout 2021. That year saw only four NFT trademark applications in January 2021, but there were 534 recorded NFT trademarks filed in December 2021

Such impressive growth rates have been mirrored in the number of metaverse trademark filings.

Here, there has been a growth of 156.84% compared to the whole of 2021, with March 2022 again being the busiest month with 773 trademark applications registered for virtual goods or services relating to the metaverse. In comparison, there were just 54 metaverse trademarks applied for in January 2021.

Reasons behind the continued rise of NFTs and metaverse products

The continued demand for metaverse products further illustrates the belief that investors have in a ‘virtual’ version of the internet. Despite Meta laying off 11,000 of its staff amid growing costs, such moves have been made in a bid to afford the huge investment required to build the yet-to-be-developed digital world.

NFTs are a unique digital identifier of something that is recorded on the blockchain to certify the ownership of an item. Most NFTs relate to digital property and can include anything from photographs and videos to audio.

While the legal rights over NFTs remain uncertain, they broke through into mainstream use in 2020. From here, the trading of NFTs skyrocketed to over $17 billion in 2021 which is up by 21,000% compared to the previous year.

Despite the skepticism over the speculative nature of NFTs, they have been increasingly used by major corporations. Recently, brands such as Rolex, Mcdonald’s, VISA, Jack Daniels, and Ford have filed NFT and metaverse trademarks applications.

This follows on from the rising interest in NFTs following a series of high-profile digital art sales at renowned auction houses such as Sotheby’s and Christie’s. One of the most notable sales was that of Beeple’s HUMAN ONE NFT which sold for over $28 million in November, but this sale has since been eclipsed by other works of digital art including Pak’s The Merg which sold for $91.8 million in September 2022.

This year has shown that NFTs remains hugely attractive despite many new sources such as The Wall Street Journal stating that the NFT market was beginning to collapse in May 2022.

Such opinions were based on the fact that the daily sales of NFT tokens were down 92% compared to September 2021, as well as the number of active NFT wallets falling 88% compared to November 2021.

Despite such pessimism, the number of trademark applications for digital or cryptocurrency products or services has continued to grow. With over 6,290 trademark requests in 2022 so far compared to just 2,179 in the whole of 2020, the report from BitStacker suggests that the popularity of NFTs is set to continue.