Metaverse trademark applications reach 16,000 in China as tech firms chase business opportunities of the next iteration of the internet

The number of metaverse-related trademark applications in China has reached 16,000 as China’s tech firms are racing to chase business opportunities of the next iteration of the internet.

The Chinese National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) said that the country has seen 16,000 trademarks filed, nearly doubled from a total of 8,534 recorded two months ago.

Despite the rising number of trademark application filed with the metaverse concept, relevant authorities have so far approved less than 10% of the total trademark application, according to Chinese business data provider Tianyancha,

Explaining the reasons behind decision making, CNIPA said it would approve the projects aiming at boosting the development of core technologies surrounding metaverse, and would reject companies intend to hype up the concept with malicious trademark registrations.

The Chinese Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission issued a notice highlighting the burgeoning metaverse sector has become a primary target for scammers raising money illegally and luring investors by promising high return.

Data from Tianyancha also showed that a number of the applications filed by Tencent subsidiaries including Tencent Music and Timi Studio, NetEase, have been denied or postponed for review by the relevant authorities.

Metaverse is an idea that ties many technologies together, it makes virtual world to become more real while it offers people virtual and fantastic experiences that they couldn’t get in real world.

Tencent recently has shown growing interest in the space. Not only the Chinese social network and online gaming giant filed metaverse trademarks such as “QQ Metaverse” “King Metaverse, and it is reportedly set up a studio dedicated to development of “AAA, open world games”.

E-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding filed 31 metaverse trademark applications for its business units including AliCloud, online marketplace Taobao and Dingtalk, in September last year through its Singapore subsidiary.

The e-commerce giant has also set up a new gaming unit in Beijing to explore the potential of games in metaverse, which came a month after the Chinese e-commerce giant launch a “Metaverse Art Exhibition” for the annual Singles’ Day shopping festival.