McDonalds files metaverse restaurant trademark that'll deliver food online and in person
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Summary:
- McDonald's has filed trademarks for a virtual restaurant that will deliver food online and in person.
- One covered entertainment services and events including "online actual and virtual concerts."
- Panera Bread has also filed for a trademark for a "Paneraverse."
World's largest fast-food restaurant chain McDonald's has filed a series of trademarks for a virtual restaurant that will deliver food online and in person.
McDonald's, which has more than 39,000 locations in about 100 countries, filed 10 applications with the US Patent and Trademark Office earlier this month for the McDonald's brand and McCafe, report Daily Mail.
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One of the trademarks was for "virtual food and beverage products," including NFTs, while another included "operating a virtual restaurant online featuring home delivery." It also trademarked entertainment services and events under the McDonald's and McCafe brands, including "online actual and virtual concerts."
The trademarks would protect the idea of a McDonald's restaurant in the metaverse that can sell both virtual and real-world food, Josh Gerben, a trademark lawyer, wrote on Twitter.
"You are hanging out in the metaverse and get hungry. You don't have to put down your headset. You walk into a McDonald's and place an order. It arrives at your door a little while later," he tweeted.
The US Patent and Trademark Office will likely approve the trademarks, though the review process often takes it eight to nine months, Gerben told Forbes.
Panera Bread filed for a trademark for a "Paneraverse" 3 February which includes NFTs, virtual entertainment services, and a virtual reward program.
Nike has established a Metaverse Studio and has patented plans for virtual assets ranging from avatars to "cryptokicks," while Gucci, Microsoft, and Crocs are also seeking staff to work on their metaverse offerings.
"I think you're going to see every brand that you can think of make these filings within the next 12 months," Gerben told Forbes. "I don't think anyone wants to be the next Blockbuster and just completely ignore a new technology that's coming."
Facebook (now known as Meta) has already opened up its metaverse world, Horizon Worlds, and Microsoft plans to open up a metaverse version of its Teams app soon.
Smaller companies can get in on the action too, by buying their own space on ready-made metaverse platforms such as Sandbox, Decentraland and Mirandus.
Many are doing so now in order to stake their claim, before figuring out how to actually use this new technology for their benefit.
