Exploring some trademark issues in metaverse from EU law perspective

Abstract

This article addresses some issues of trademark protection in virtual worlds. The increasing presence of trademarks in the metaverse, as evidenced by the growing number of trademark applications for virtual goods and services, is likely to intensify legal conflicts related to trademarks and, consequently, to lead to litigation. The development of virtual reality thus brings challenges for the interpretation and application of traditional concepts and terms used in the trademark system. This article analyzes issues that require consideration in the context of trademark protection in metaverse. It discusses the issues of registering trademarks for virtual goods, assessing the similarities between real world goods and services and their virtual world counterparts, and the enforcement of the rights to trademarks, which were used without the owner’s consent in metaverse. The analysis presented in the article leads to the conclusion that further development of the metaverse will certainly force a redefinition of traditionally applied enforcement principles, including those related to jurisdiction, as well as certain concepts known and interpreted for the application of the trademark system in the real world, such as trademark use.