Chinese companies are in a craze for trademark registrations related to the metaverse, and Baidu and NetEase are the latest tech giants to register such trademarks.
Fast facts
- According to the QiChacha, a website where you can search for information about Chinese company information, shows that NetEase has applied for three trademarks with the metaverse: “NetEase metaverse,” “Leihuo metaverse” and “Fuxi metaverse.” Baidu has applied for a trademark of “metapp.”
- NetEase is the leading manufacturer of mobile phone games in China. The game Identity V and Knives Out are its representative works. Baidu is China’s search engine giant.
- This year, Chinese companies have set off an upsurge of registration of metaverse- related trademarks. According to the Qi Chacha, more than 3,700 metaverse-related trademarks have been filed for registration until today, including Tencent, Bytedance and Alibaba.
- Chinese tech companies are getting involved in metaverses. ByteDance acquired a leading virtual reality glasses manufacturer for around US$1.39 billion in August — such equipment is the essential equipment to the metaverse. Tencent got an early start, becoming the China distributor of metaverse sandbox game Roblox in 2019.
- In September, brokerage giant CITIC Securities said in a research report that metaverses would enter an exploration stage in the next three to five years, and that they could become a way of life in 20 years.
- However, Chinese authorities are wary of a series of new blockchain-related emerging fields including the metaverse and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Last week, a think tank under the charge of the National Security Agency of China published an article stating that the metaverse may threaten national security due to technological discrimination, cyber attacks, and the social changes that the metaverse can cause. Also, Chinese authorities have warned against NFT hype and tech giants have vowed to resist speculation of NFTs.