UK:
Guardians Of The Metaverse
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“Meta”, originating from the ancient Greek word
meaning “beyond” or “after”, remains present in
our language in words like “Metaphysics” (the realm of
philosophy dealing with what is “beyond the natural”,
i.e. the branch that studies causality, necessity, the principles
of being, reality and so on). It is also the new brand for
Facebook, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg announcing recently an intention
to develop “a company that builds technology to connect”.
Both applications of the word indicate an aspiration to reach what
cannot be reached.
Neal Stephenson’s coinage of the word “METAVERSE”
pulls the same trick. In stretching back to the old to find
something new, it has captured the imagination of the likes of
Alibaba and NetEase and has scored a palpable hit with numerous
Chinese businesses. Like forty-niners in a modern day gold rush,
their applications have been pouring in to claim monopoly rights in
the term’s Mandarin equivalent (“yuan yuzhou”).
The Trade Mark authorities in China are nevertheless frustrating
many of these ambitions by denying registration. This is perhaps
reflective of the need to prevent squatting. However, look to the
UK and US and the same cannot be said. The US Patent and Trade Mark
Office’s Register of Trade Marks is already awash with
Metaverse-formative applications and registrations, many of them
from applicants based in mainland China. And the same is true of
the UK’s Register of Trade Marks. It remains to be seen how
these brands will co-exist and ultimately how distinctive the
METAVERSE will become.
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