Global payments company MasterCard International Inc. (NYSE: MA) seems to be preparing to move into the metaverse aiming to become one of the first major players in the virtual economy.
Reports show that the company has already submitted 15 new trademark applications to register MasterCard, its “Circles” logo, and the “Priceless” slogan. The information was confirmed through an April 8 tweet sent out by non-fungible tokens (NFT) and metaverse trademark attorney Michael Kondoudis.
A wide range of crypto, virtual, and financial services and products will be covered by different patents filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office on April 4.
Mr. Kondoudis said:
“Mastercard is a leading financial brand, and the value attached to the brand is significant. These filings are the next logical step to protect the Mastercard brand as it enters the Metaverse.”
The attorney also added:
Buy Crypto Now“Clearly, Mastercard sees the potential of the Metaverse and is preparing its trademarks and brand for the virtual economy that will dominate it. It is a safe bet that Mastercard expects to be a major player in that virtual economy.”
MasterCard Trademarks
Particularly, the payment behemoth has filed trademarks for marketplaces for digital goods, NFT backed multimedia, and e-commerce software business transactions, together with card and payment transaction processing in the Metaverse.
In March, reports emerged from Finbold that American Express filed similar trademark applications, becoming the latest credit card service firm to join this world. The Washington DC trademark lawyer commented on this issue:
“Perhaps the most interesting aspect of these applications is that they appear to continue a recent trend of NFT and Metaverse trademark filings from the financial services sector. We expect the number of trademark filings for NFT and virtual products and services from the financial services sector to increase in the next 12 months.”
Notably, the number of NFT trademark applications in the US surged 421 times in 2021, a massive gain when compared to only three in 2020. This trend appears to be continuing in 2022.
Based on MasterCard, it now has around 2.8 billion of its cards in use. With such a huge network, MasterCard started lowering its entry barriers into the crypto space for its clients in 2021 as it joined hands with Bakkt, which helped in pushing cryptos into the mainstream.
