Chinese Authorities 'Reject Applications' in Metaverse Trademark Preemption Competition

(Photo by SCMP)

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] As more companies enter the metaverse, competition to secure related trademarks is intensifying, and the Chinese government is reportedly rejecting trademark registration applications, according to the Hong Kong South China Morning Post (SCMP) on the 25th.

According to Tianyancha, a corporate trademark registration portal, metaverse-related trademark registration applications submitted by Chinese IT companies such as video game company NetEase, video platform iQIYI, and social media platform Xiaohongshu have been rejected by the National Intellectual Property Administration.

An official from the National Intellectual Property Administration explained that this measure aims to crack down on companies' malicious trademark hoarding and to discourage indiscriminate trademark applications.

According to Tianyancha, as of the previous day, about 153 applications are awaiting reconsideration. It is reported that the review of reconsideration cases for rejected trademark applications takes about 6 to 8 months.

As more companies enter the metaverse business and competition to secure market dominance intensifies, competition for related trademark applications is also overheating.

According to China Guochuangban Daily, about 1,510 companies in the Chinese IT industry have applied for metaverse-related trademark registrations, more than 10 times the number from four months ago (130 companies).

According to the corporate information site Qichacha, since last September, the number of metaverse-related trademark applications includes Tencent (99 applications), Alibaba (31 applications), and ByteDance (6 applications).

In addition, electric vehicle companies including Xiaopeng and Weilai have also been actively applying for metaverse-related trademark registrations.

Chan Zhaojie of the intellectual property research agency PatSnap explained, "As competition to secure metaverse trademarks in the Chinese IT industry heats up, the authorities are taking a cautious stance on trademark applications to encourage the entry of companies with technological capabilities."