McDonald’s Jumps On the Trademark Train as Metaverse Competition Heats Up

The world’s largest restaurant chain McDonald’s has filed for 10 trademarks to protect itself from metaverse infringements as DAOs turn to real-world assets.
Image source: fries.fund

Quick take:

  • McDonald’s filed for 10 trademark applications last week, covering actual and virtual foods.
  • The virtual foods and beverages will be offered in form of downloadable medial files that contain NFTs.
  • However, some believe this may be a move to cushion its business from trademark infringements by metaverse projects.

Global restaurant chain McDonald’s has filed for 10 metaverse-themed trademark applications allowing it to sell virtual foods and beverages. The Chicago, Illinois-based fast-food company said the virtual foods will be offered as downloadable media files that contain non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

Trademark Attorney Josh Gerben wrote on Twitter commenting on the giant food company’s latest activity saying “McDonald’s is headed to the metaverse.” The applications also indicate that the restaurant chain’s metaverse business will feature home delivery. 

However, some think McDonald’s trademark applications are a way of protecting its intellectual property in the immersive virtual world. Jonathan Maze chimed in with a tweet pointing out that those are the fast-food company’s basic trademarks.

“So wouldn’t this suggest they’re just protecting their trademarks on the metaverse?” adding that the company may be filing for the trademarks so that no one opens a McDonald’s in the metaverse. 

However, while mainstream brands may have figured out a way to protect their products from potential trademark infringements in the metaverse, crypto and blockchain projects are shifting gears and moving to the real world.

In fact, based o recent developments, McDonald’s should probably worry more about protecting its business in the real world than the metaverse.

Decentralised autonomous organisation FriesDAO has become the latest DAO to target real-world investment opportunities. According to a press release sent to media houses on Wednesday, FriesDAO has raised $4.4 million from its community members as part of a fundraising campaign that targets $9.7 million. The organisation wants to acquire at least one restaurant from a fast-food giant in the next 3-4 months.

The idea started as a joke on Discord on New Year’s eve, when one participant said, “well, why don’t we get together and buy McDonald’s  (MCD) – Get McDonald’s Corporation Report and guarantee a future job for ourselves in case we fail our crypto trading,” as narrated by Bill “Swo” Lee, Launch Code Capital partner and crypto veteran, also an adviser to friesDAO.

What began as a rib-cracking moment gained some altitude earlier this month, and now has a legal basis to come to fruition following the success story of LinksDAO, which raised $10 million from NFTs to buy a golf course.

Soon, friesDAO could become the first crypto community to acquire a restaurant, and who knows what could follow. The DAO recently added former Domino’s Pizza president Kory Spiroff to its advisory board, bringing a ton of experience from the industry.

“Technology innovation has been a driving force in the industry for the past several years, to the point where Domino’s is often referred to as “a tech company that just happens to sell pizza,” Spiroff told friesDAO members on Discord, adding that the friesDAO was just scratching the surface and that he was eager to see where the exciting experiment goes next.

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