In an interview with The Paper on Monday, the Chinese National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) said that the country has seen 16,000 trademark applications filed, encapsulating the term ‘metaverse.’The CNIPA has strictly opposed malicious trademark registrations, especially if the company is trying to hoard trademarks without apparent purpose for use.
To date, most Western brands have focused primarily on the U.S. and the European Union, filing for a mix of classes of goods/services to cover their largely-prospective metaverse activities, namely class 9 (“downloadable virtual goods”); 35 (“retail store services featuring virtual goods”); and 41 (“entertainment services, namely, providing on-line, non-downloadable [goods] … for use in virtual environments”). But also, 42 in some cases (“non-downloadable computer software” and “non-fungible tokens”), and in a small number of cases, 25 (including “virtual clothing” alongside the traditional physical apparel that falls in this class of goods).
Dr. Martens, for instance, filed applications in classes 9 and 35 for its name and logo with the EUIPO last month. Tommy Hilfiger has filed applications with the same trademark office for marks like Tommyverse and Tommy World in the EU in classes 9, 25, 35, 41, and 42. Cosmetics and beauty companies like L’Oreal, NYX, Maybelline, Skinceuticals, and MAC, among others, have filed applications in a number of these classes in the EUIPO. And Allbirds lodged an international application with the World Intellectual Property Office in November after filing in the U.S.
China’s National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) released the Guidelines for Trademark Examination and Trial (商标审查审理指南) on November 22, 2021, effective January 1, 2022. The Guidelines, which are somewhat analogous to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office’s (USPTO’s) Trademark Manual of Examining Procedure, explains the Trademark Law’s Article 4, which states, in part, “malicious trademark registration applications that are not intended for use shall be rejected” by providing 10 factors to identify malicious applications.
