In 2022, the number of NFT-related trademark applications filed increased by 220% compared to all of last year. And the number of similar trademark applications related to the metaverse and the virtual world grew by 51%.+
According to data published on the official website of Michael Kondoudis’s Trademark and Patent Attorney, the number of trademark applications related to non-fungible tokens (NFTs) between January 1 and May 31, 2022 was 4,090, and those related to the metaverse were 2,717. Thus, in the current year, the USA has averaged about 27 applications for NFTs and 18 applications for metaverse per day.
The number of trademark applications for NFTs in 2022 increased by 1,026% compared to 2021, when there were only 363 such applications. Even taking into account all the applications filed in 2021 (2,179), the increase this year is already over 87%.
Notably, only 18 applications were submitted in 2020, so the sector’s growth was seen as early as 2021. The surge in the number of those seeking intellectual property rights for NFT products began in October 2021 and continued until March 2022, when 1,064 trademark applications for NFTs were registered. The trend then went down, with 876 applications filed in April and 743 in May.
According to a recent survey, more than half of people buy NFTs for profit.
The number of trademark applications for the metaverse and virtual goods and services sector in 2022 increased by 435% over the same period in 2021, to 2,717 applications. Compared to all of last year, during which 1,798 applications were submitted, this year’s increase is already 51%.
In 2020, there were about 155 requests for trademarks related to the metaverse. The trend of a sharp increase in demand for trademarks for the metaverse, similar to the demand for intellectual property in the NFT, began in the fall of 2021. In November 2021, the number of people wanting to start a business in the virtual universe more than doubled from the October level. The upward trend continued until peaking in March 2022, when 709 applications were submitted.
As a reminder, recent research showed that global awareness of the metaverse in March 2022 was 74%. By comparison, the similar figure in July 2021 was at 32%. Thus the popularity of metaverse platforms has gone up by over 131% in the last eight months.
