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6 February 2023TrademarksSarah Speight

NFT trademark applications fall by nearly 75% in US

Data shows 10-month drop in non-fungible token filings | UK, EU and Australia applications have tailed off | “Too early to tell” if interest in NFTs has lost momentum | Clarivate.

The number of new trademark applications for non-fungible tokens (NFTs) has declined for the tenth month in a row in the US, new data reveals.

Data from the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) shows that just 279 applications were filed last month, compared with a peak of 1,087 in March 2022—an almost 75% drop.

The USPTO began 2022 with 651 filings, compared with just four in January 2021.

Robert Reading, director of government & content strategy in the IP group at data firm Clarivate, who reported the news on LinkedIn, also pointed out a lack of growth in filing activity for NFT-related trademarks at other major registers.

“Interest in NFTs also appears to be declining” since early 2022 at the EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) and IP Australia, he said.

The data from Clarivate’s SAEGIS platform looks at data between January 2021 and January 2023 for the US, and until December 2022 for the EUIPO, UKIPO and IP Australia.

Trademark applications for NFTs at the EUIPO peaked in July 2022, at 255, and 237 as the year closed.

Filings at the UKIPO peaked in April 2022 with 198, falling to 131 in December.

IP Australia’s figures are relatively lower overall, with a peak of 85 in July 2022, with a slight decline to 69 in December.

Peak NFT?

Considering the question of whether we have reached “peak NFT”, Reading told WIPR: “It's too early to tell if the interest in NFTs has lost momentum, or if we saw an initial wave of early adopters and possibly speculators in 2022, and mainstream brand owners are now waiting until the position becomes clearer.”

He continued: “Trademark registries have recently provided more clarity around what can be registered (for example which specific goods/services terms will be accepted)—this clarity may provide the certainty that brand owners are seeking before they move into this space.”

Reading was referring in part to the USPTO’s updated ‘pick list’ of approved terms in December 2022, to include a number of terms relating to NFTs.

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