The English Premier League (EPL), one of the most followed sports leagues globally, is the latest entity to venture into the metaverse with two filings with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
The Premier League’s entry into the metaverse was revealed by trademark attorney Michael Kondoudis via his Twitter account on June 6. The application includes the league’s name and the “lion’s head” logo, along with the “love cup trophy” logo.
The trademark filing was made on June 1, 2022, and the USPTO confirmed that the application had met all the necessary requirements.
The Premier League has filed 2 US trademark applications for
▶️ NFTs, cryptocurrencies, digital tokens + collectibles
▶️ Digital asset trading
▶️ Financial and crypto services
▶️ Virtual clothing, footwear, and sports gear#NFTs #Metaverse #Cryptocurrencies #PremierLeague pic.twitter.com/1tPOU0dIOp— Mike Kondoudis (@KondoudisLaw) June 6, 2022
It can be perceived that the soccer league intends to venture into other sectors such as NFTs, cryptocurrencies, digital tokens, digital collectibles, digital trading cards, digital art, cryptocurrency trading, virtual footwear, apparel, headwear and sportswear.
“The Premier League is regularly watched by more than one billion people, so the value attributed to the brand is substantial. These filings represent a logical step to protect the brand in today’s economy, which includes virtual and cryptographic elements, and in the virtual economy of the future in the metaverse,” Kondoudis said.
Similarly, world soccer’s governing body, FIFA, applied for a trademark as the premier. Kondoudis noted that the number of sports entities entering the metaverse is likely to continue to increase, especially in the next 12 months.
According to the lawyer, the move is a realization on the part of sports brands that they need protection in the metaverse as the concept continues to develop.
Premier League champions Manchester City have already begun to make inroads into the metaverse. The club is building the world’s first soccer stadium in the metaverse, taking advantage of virtual reality (VR) specialists Sony.
In addition, French soccer champion Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) filed trademark applications on March 16, 2022 covering non-fungible token (NFT)-backed multimedia, cryptocurrency wallets, cryptocurrency transaction management, virtual apparel, sportswear and electronics.
Sports personalities delve into the metaverse
In addition, sports personalities are also entering the NFT and metaverse space. As Finbold reports, professional basketball player Kevin Durant of the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) Brooklyn Nets filed 26 NFT and metaverse applications. The filing was made with the player’s venture capital firm, Thirty Five Ventures LLC.
Although the NFT and metaverse concepts are relatively new, trademark applications are on the rise. According to a Finbold report, the number of trademark applications for NFT in the U.S. alone increased more than 400-fold by 2022.
