The concept of ‘metaverse’ was quickly spread in year 2021, ‘Metaverse’ can be simply understood as a virtual world, where people can shop, live, socialize and entertain in a virtual space created by the metaverse without the constraints of the real world. 

Also, the fashion trend of ‘metaverse’ prevailed in the trademark field, domestic major enterprises move and layout trademarks ‘metaverse’ or apply for registering the trademark with ‘…metaverse’, moreover, the classification category involved is also very wide, and there are plenty of natural persons who want to ride the wave.

As per the trademark database statistics, there are around 16,000 applied trademarks related to ‘元宇宙’(Chinese characters in Pinyin Yuan Yu Zhou) and ‘METAVERSE’, with the largest number of applications in 2021, nearly 14,000. Over 2000 trademarks have been applied for registration related to ‘Metaverse’ since 2022. In terms of the status of trademarks, more than 160 trademarks were rejected, over 70 trademarks were invalid, and more than 14,000 trademarks are pending for the substantive review. Also, there are some of trademarks that passed the preliminary examination before having been declared for invalid recently. Why is it difficult to register the trademark related ‘元宇宙’’(Chinese characters in Pinyin Yuan Yu Zhou) and ‘METAVERSE’ at this stage? Should applicants need to continue to apply to compete with them when trademarks are frequently rejected?

The substantive review of the registration of the trademark constitutes the review of absolute and relative reason, and with ‘元宇宙’’(Chinese characters in Pinyin Yuan Yu Zhou) , "METAVERSE text related trademark rejected mainly because of the absolute reason to reject, absolute reason refers to the situation that a trademark violates the trademark Law and is prohibited from being registered and used as a trademark, regardless of the impact on the specific right holder. It is absolute, and generally belongs to the scope of active trial of the trademark registration department according to its authority. The absolute terms related to the trademarks of ‘元宇宙’’(Chinese characters in Pinyin Yuan Yu Zhou) and "METAVERSE" are mainly Article 10 and Article 11 of the Trademark Law. Specific interpretations are as follows: 

1.Regarding the trademark of ‘元宇宙’’(Chinese characters in Pinyin Yuan Yu Zhou) and "METAVERSE", they are apply to Article 11-1-2 ‘lack of significance’ of the trademark law, Article 10-1-7 ‘misidentification clause’ of the trademark law, and Article 10-1-8 ‘adverse impact clause’, shall be rejected. 

"METAVERSE" is a new kind of future mathematical technology, which has the characteristics of low delay, immersion and real-time. It is also an emerging concept. If it is used as a trademark on related goods or services, it only directly represents the content and technical characteristics of the goods or services. The use of unrelated goods and services can easily lead the public to misunderstand the technical characteristics of the goods or services. At the same time, the word " METAVERSE" itself with no bad meaning, but the application for registration of a trademark, such kind of behavior at the risk of piggyback on the trend, disrupting the normal order of trademark registration, easy to produce negative influence in social, economic and other fields in China, and as a public resource, also, it is unfair to register by the applicant as a trademark for exclusive, easy to cause damage to social and public interests, and then have adverse effects.

2.For trademarks that ‘with significant words+METAVERSE’ and ‘METAVERSE+ significant words’, applicable to the "misrecognition clause" of Article 10-1-7 of the Trademark Law, shall be rejected.

As mentioned above, ‘元宇宙’ (Chinese characters in Pinyin Yuan Yu Zhou) and "METAVERSE" are used as trademarks, which lack the distinctive features of trademarks. If other distinctive words are added, the trademarks may become distinctive as a whole. However, "METAVERSE" is an emerging digital technology, integrating a variety of cutting-edge technologies, including tactile sensing, three-dimensional space, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, 5G technology, blockchain technology, etc., so even with other significant parts, the key word of the overall trademark is still ‘元宇宙’’(Chinese characters in Pinyin Yuan Yu Zhou) or "METAVERSE". Even as an integral part of the trademark, it is enough to cause the public to misrecognize the content, technology and other characteristics of the goods or services.

In conclusion, the application for registration of trademarks related to ‘元宇宙’ (Chinese characters in Pinyin Yuan Yu Zhou) and "METAVERSE" may violate Article 10-1-2, Article 10-1-7 and Article 10-1-8 of the trademark law, if it constitutes a malicious application not for the purpose of use and violates the provisions of Article 4 of the Trademark Law, there are a series of absolute reasons for the registration of obstacles.

Hence, applicants are advised to apply carefully, and once the trademark is rejected due to the "misrecognition clause", it will not be able to be used in the future. If applicants insist on using it in the market, it will also be included in general violations.