Quick take:
- Trademark applications were filed on April 4.
- Trademarks cover NFTs and payment transactions in the metaverse.
- This is Mastercard’s latest move as it expands its reach into Web3.
Mastercard has filed 15 new trademarks for its name, its “Circles” logo and the famous “priceless” slogan, signalling an intent to offer financial services in the metaverse. The trademark applications were filed on Apr 4 with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
The goods and services covered under the trademarks include:
- Providing virtual environments in which users can interact for recreational, educational, networking, shopping, leisure or entertainment purposes
- Creating and hosting an on-line community for digital assets non-fungible tokens (NFTs), metaverses and virtual worlds
- Provision of an online marketplace for buyers and sellers of downloadable digital goods and media authenticated by non-fungible tokens (NFTs)
- Promoting the goods and services of others by means of coupons, discounts, advertisements, rewards, incentives and loyalty programs in the metaverse and other virtual worlds, generated in connection with the use of credit and debit cards
- promoting the cultural events, charitable events, sporting events, travel experiences, fine dining events, festivals, award shows, and special events of others in the metaverse and other virtual worlds
- Processing of virtual credit card, virtual debit card, virtual prepaid card, and virtual payment card transactions in the metaverse and other virtual worlds
This is Mastercard’s latest move as it readies itself for operations in the metaverse. Mastercard’s first foray into Web3 was with its partnership with Coinbase, followed by another partnership with NFT analytics platform, bitsCrunch, announced on Apr 6.
“Clearly, Mastercard sees the potential of the Metaverse and is preparing its trademarks and brand for the virtual economy that will dominate it,” Mr. Kondoudis added. “It is a safe bet that Mastercard expects to be a major player in that virtual economy.”
Other credit card services to have entered the Web3 space include Visa, which recently launched its Visa Creators Program to help creators build their businesses through NFTs.
American Express filed similar trademarks last month, signalling an intent to bring its services to or create new ones in the metaverse.
Washington DC-based trademark lawyer, Mike Kondoudis, commented: “Perhaps the most interesting aspect of these applications is that they appear to continue a recent trend of NFT and Metaverse trademark filings from the financial services sector.”
Stay up to date:
