The metaverse: a new frontier of design protection

The metaverse is more than just a digital space; it's an expansive universe. Every month, 400 million users dive in, their digital avatars exploring 3D worlds, powered by virtual and augmented realities. They attend concerts, purchase goods, play sports, build homes and live lives here. As Mark Zuckerberg once said: “[The] Metaverse isn’t a thing a company builds. It’s the next chapter of the internet overall.”

Seeing the obvious trajectory of these trillion-dollar spaces, industries like gaming, retail, arts, healthcare, and blockchain are participating in this emerging ecosystem. From Nike to Gucci, brands are designing clothes and accessories for the metaverse. Even J.P. Morgan and Samsung have set up shop.

However, as this digital frontier expands, so does the complexity of intellectual property (IP) protection. How can creators and brands safeguard their designs and innovations? IP rights in the metaverse encompass patents for technology, trademarks for brand identity, and copyrights for source codes and digital art.

Design registration: protecting aesthetics

Design registration protects the aesthetic appearance such as shape, configuration, ornamentation, colour, and colour combinations.

In the digital realms, where brands like Nike and Gucci are crafting unique virtual spaces such as NIKELAND and the Vault respectively, design registration becomes essential. It protects a myriad of creations: from the sleek contours of a virtual sneaker, the intricate patterns on digital apparel, to the avant-garde design of a virtual lounge or storefront. Ensuring these designs remain exclusive, it upholds the brand's distinctiveness in expansive virtual spaces.

While traditionally, design registration protected tangible products such as footwear or electronic devices, countries have started to recognise metaverse as a design registerable subject matter.