Quick take:
- Conagra Brands has filed 3 trademark applications for the metaverse.
- The company filed trademarks for the MEATVERSE, SLIM JIM, and LONG BOI GANG.
- Conagra wants to offer virtual food products in the MEATVERSE.
Conagra Brands has become the latest food company to file for metaverse-themed trademarks. The company has filed trademark applications for virtual foods in a metaverse called the MEATVERSE.
US Intellectual Property attorney Josh Gerben broke the news on Twitter.
Conagra also filed two additional trademarks for SLIM JIM and LONG BOI GANG. According to the filings submitted to the US patents and trademarks office on March 1, the virtual food products include downloadable virtual goods like digital collectibles created using blockchain technology and smart contracts.
Conagra also seeks to offer entertainment services through one of its trademark filings including providing a virtual world for the people to browse, accumulate, buy, sell, and trade virtual food products.
The company also wants to create an online community for digital assets, covering non-fungible tokens (NFTs), the metaverse and online worlds.
Although the metaverse has yet to find a distinct definition, several explanations revolve around an immersive 3D virtual world or worlds allowing people to interact with each other using animated avatars.
The metaverse has been popularised by the intersection with blockchain gaming with game developers using decentralized ledger technology to offer in-game items and NFTs. The emergence of digital land as part of gaming has attracted different parties, creating an autonomous economy based on the sale of virtual real estate.
Importantly, the metaverse has become a topic of interest among the retail industry featuring fashion brands, department stores, and now, restaurants.
Although it is not clear why several real-life brands are filing for trademark applications with the USPTO, experts think it has more to do with brand protection rather than launching digital products in the metaverse.
Since August last year, US trademark filings rocketed more than 500% fueled by the influx of mainstream organisations in the metaverse. Leading trademark trackers reported in February that companies were filing approximately 15 trademark applications per day in the US amid the metaverse craze.
Conagra is the latest to jump on that train following in the footsteps of Nike, Walmart, and fellow restaurants McDonald’s and Wingstop.
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