The entire crypto landscape has been struggling throughout most of last year and 2022. However, the industry’s expansion has not slowed in the least.
Recently, approximately 4,000 trademark applications connected to the crypto and metaverse businesses have been filed.
Michael Kondoudis, a trademark and patent attorney, stated in recent tweets that the number of crypto-related trademarks has surged in the past few months.
From January to August, 3,600 trademark applications for cryptocurrencies were lodged, according to the tweet. This is a 2.3% rise from the 3,516 filings last year.
Crypto Vs. NFT: Trademark Filing War
However, the crypto industry has not had the highest trademark growth. According to recent tweets from Kondoudis, NFT, or non-fungible tokens, have experienced the most increase.
So far this year, more than 5,800 trademark applications for NFTs (and related goods/services) have been submitted with the USPTO,” Kondoudis stated in recent tweets, adding that the 2021 total was 2087. This data only includes January through August.
In relation to the two values, the rise of NFT trademarks was nearly 280%, which is an impressive number. Recent increase of NFT trademarks can be ascribed to the industry’s lack of intellectual property protection.
U.S. Crypto trademark filings. Source: Michael Kondoudis
NFTs are considered to be the medium of the future in the art world. However, if there hadn’t been so many allegations of fake or copied artwork, the market would have fared better.
OpenSea tweeted on January 28 that more than 80 percent of artworks on the site had been taken down because of infringement. Perhaps the rate of plagiarized NFTs will decrease if this legal safeguard is in place.
Metaverse And Web3 Trademarks Rise As Well
Huge increases in development are not limited to NFTs. The same is true with Metaverse and Web3 trademarks, which have seen a meteoric rise in popularity.
There have been 4,150 applications for the metaverse and Web3 since January. Compared to the total of 1866 in 2021, this is an astounding rise of 223%.
Facebook’s rebranding as Meta is largely responsible for the expansion. In general, fascination with the metaverse has increased since then.
The industries that sit atop the blockchain should develop and improve in tandem with the technology itself. While more has to be done to safeguard intellectual property and investor confidence, this is a positive development.
This can appear at odds with the decentralized nature of crypto. Cryptocurrency, however, need safeguards against fraud and other threats as interest from other sectors grows.
Crypto total market cap at $903 billion on the daily chart | Source: TradingView.com Featured image from Enterprising Britain Awards, chart from TradingView.com