ARTICLE
10 September 2024

Trade Marks And The Metaverse

B
Briffa

Contributor

Briffa is a specialist intellectual property law firm. We help all types of businesses to identify, protect, develop, monetise and enforce their intellectual property (IP).

But we’re a bit different from your average law firm. We’re not stuffy or overly corporate. We’re creative, transparent and competitively priced. And we go above and beyond to deliver exceptional customer service with quick turnaround times.

Over the past 30 years, we’ve assisted thousands of creative businesses with every aspect of IP law and played a key role in several high-profile cases. We have the capability, experience and resources to work with any client – whether you’re a small, independent creator or a global brand.

And since the beginning, that’s exactly what we’ve done. We’re proud to have worked with clients of all shapes and sizes across a broad range of sectors, from household names to individual entrepreneurs, inventors and artists.

The UK's Intellectual Property Office report highlights the challenges of trade mark protection in the metaverse, including defining protection scope, proving use in commerce, and managing international jurisdictional issues. Briffa offers expertise in navigating these complexities.
United Kingdom Intellectual Property

The UK's Intellectual Property Office has recently released a government-commissioned research report regarding IP issues in the metaverse.

As the metaverse continues to establish itself as a significant marketplace for businesses, trade mark laws are encountering new challenges in protecting brands in virtual environments.

Scope of protection

One of the main challenges in the metaverse is defining the scope of trade mark protection. Brand owners must navigate the complexities of determining the goods and services that their trade marks should cover in both the real world and virtual space. This entails changing their filing strategies and expanding their portfolios to include unconventional classes of the Nice Classification to achieve trade mark protection in virtual environments. Additionally, there is uncertainty regarding whether real-world trade marks can assert exclusive rights over their use concerning virtual goods, further complicating the issue of protection.

Use in commerce

While trade mark protection in the physical world can extend into virtual environments, companies may encounter challenges in proving that the unauthorised use of their trade mark on virtual goods constitutes use "in the course of trade" since no physical goods are being sold. This raises questions about the enforceability of trade marks in the metaverse and the extent to which they can be protected in connection to physical goods.

Territorial nature

With metaverse platforms operating globally independent of jurisdictional boundaries, companies may find it challenging to navigate the complexities of international business-to-consumer transactions. Sellers without trade marks in the buyer's jurisdiction may face infringement procedures, and companies with the same trade mark in different jurisdictions will need to coexist within a shared virtual world, creating a potential risk of confusion.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.

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