China’s National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) said on Monday that 16,000 trademarks containing the word “metaverse” have been filed.
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Fast facts
- CNIPA opposed the high number of filings, vowing to crack down on “malicious registrations” of trademarks, such as piggybacking on the rising popularity of the metaverse.
- In January, the CNIPA said that metaverse-related trademarks are unlikely to pass its screening, adding that technology itself cannot be trademarked.
- By the end of last year, 12,000 trademarks containing the word metaverse had filed for registration, according to the China Star Market.
- Chinese tech giants are among those that have filed for metaverse trademarks, including Tencent, ByteDance, NetEase and Baidu.
- None of the applications from major tech companies have been approved as of press time, according to CNIPA records.
- The China Banking & Insurance Regulatory Commission last Friday issued a warning against illegal fundraising exploiting fake metaverse projects, blockchain games, digital real estate and cryptocurrencies.
See related article: S. Korean regulators to strengthen watch over NFTs and the metaverse
