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Topline
McDonald’s is the latest to file trademark applications for virtual goods, services and even virtual restaurants and cafes, building on a growing trend of large companies to prepare for a potential wave of virtual reality markets led by Meta, Facebook’s parent company, and its planned virtual network. world, the sharecroppers.
SAN FRANCISCO – FEBRUARY 09: A McDonald’s customer is seen through the window of a McDonald’s … [+]
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Highlights
Josh Gerben, a trademark attorney whose firm tracks new trademark filings on a daily basis, first took note of the requests on Twitter Wednesday, pointing to 10 cases filed by McDonald’s.
The McDonald’s depositlisted on February 4, application to register a trademark, among others, “Operation of a virtual restaurant offering real and virtual products” and “Operation of an online virtual restaurant offering home delivery”.
It also aims to registered trademark “real and virtual concerts online” and other entertainment services within its virtual McCafe.
The requests follow Panera Bread’s February 3 deposit for the “Paneraverse“, a request from the bakery company to register a trademark on its downloadable virtual food and beverage products ”for use in virtual worlds”, as well as NFTs and the ability to purchase real products in the virtual world to be delivered.
McDonald’s and Panera Bread are the latest to prepare for a potential revolution of virtual establishments, joining large companies like Nike, Walmart and Designerall of whom have made similar deposits in the last three months.
“When you see this critical mass of big companies filing so many new brands, it’s very clear that this is happening,” Gerben said. Forbes.
Crucial quote
“I think you’re going to see all the brands you can think of making these deposits in the next 12 months,” Gerben added. “I don’t think anyone wants to be the next Blockbuster and completely ignore a new technology coming in.”
Key context
Such applications often take the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office eight to nine months to review, according to Gerben, though he says McDonalds should have no problem getting trademarks approved. Although the Metaverse is not the only virtual world in which these brands can be used, Meta seems to rely more heavily on its vision of a virtual world (see its name change in October) than any other major technology company, and it is seeing results. According to Meta’s fourth quarter income tax return, the company pulled in more than $800 million in revenue from “Reality Labs,” its division that includes its augmented and virtual reality-related consumer hardware like the Oculus, the company’s wildly popular VR headset used to access the metaverse.
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