American fast-food behemoth McDonalds is the latest major brand to make a move into the metaverse by filing no fewer than twelve trademark applications on February 4, eleven of which make direct references to virtual restaurants, cafes, concerts, and other virtual services, goods, and events.
Trademark attorney and founder of Gerben Intellectual Property Josh Gerben first brought up the applications on Twitter, pointing out 10 applications filed by the fast-food chain.
These filings indicate that the company many plan to offer “a virtual restaurant featuring actual and virtual goods” and “operating a virtual restaurant featuring home delivery.”
One of the filing applications requests to trademark “Virtual food and beverage products” and “Downloadable multimedia files containing artwork, text, audio and video files and non-fungible tokens” (NFTs).
McDonalds also included its McCafe brand in the Metaverse trademark application. The brand also seeks to trademark “Virtual food and beverage products” and “Downloadable multimedia files containing artwork, text, audio and video files and non-fungible tokens.”
McDonald's is headed to the metaverse.
The company has filed 10 (TEN!) trademark applications indicating it plans to offer “a virtual restaurant featuring actual and virtual goods” and “operating a virtual restaurant featuring home delivery.”#Mcdonalds #Metaverse pic.twitter.com/J9pK7EK9nl
— Josh Gerben (@JoshGerben) February 9, 2022The move follows a broader trend within the industry where big tech and luxury companies are trying to get their share of the future digital world.
Just earlier this year, Walmart and Crocs filed trademark applications indicating that they plan to offer virtual goods, digital assets, and NFTs.