Fidelity and HSBC File Web3 Trademark Applications for Financial Services in the Metaverse

Quick take:

Fidelity launched a metaverse presence in April.
The financial services company also launched a metaverse ETF.
HSBC entered the metaverse in March via a partnership with The Sandbox.

American multinational financial services corporation, Fidelity, has filed three new trademark applications indicating further plans for the metaverse.

Filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on Dec 21, the trademarks cover business marketing, referral services in the field of investment advice and financial planning, personnel placement and recruiting services, provision of an online marketplace for buyers and sellers of digital media, namely, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) featuring textual and graphic content, all in the metaverse and other virtual worlds.

According to Fidelity’s International Class 36 trademark application, Fidelity also plans to offer fund investment, financial planning, investment management and several other financial services in the metaverse.

Fidelity also wants to trademark its intellectual property for educational services, namely, conducting classes, workshops, seminars and conferences in the field of investments and in the field of marketing financial services in the metaverse and other virtual worlds.

The Web3 trademark applications come after the financial services company launched its metaverse presence in Decentraland in April this year, called the Fidelity Stack, which includes a dance floor, rooftop sky garden, and a game called the Invest Quest. In that same month, the financial services corporation launched the Fidelity Metaverse ETF to provide investors access to the growing metaverse sector.

The company said that its metaverse platform “provides a gamified financial education experience in Decentraland. Users are challenged to traverse the building learning the basics of ETF investing while gathering ‘orbs’ along the way.”

HSBC also filed Web3 trademark applications for its name and logo with the USPTO on Dec 15. The trademarks cove software to allow users to perform banking and electronic business transactions in the metaverse and other virtual worlds; downloadable virtual goods, namely, computer programs featuring bank cards, cash cards, cheque cards, debit cards, credit cards, charge cards for use online and in online virtual worlds; and downloadable digital files authenticated by NFTs.

Other goods and services covered by HSBC’s trademark applications include reward programs for use in the virtual world; online marketplaces for NFTs; payment processing services, namely credit card, prepaid card, gift card, and payment card transaction processing services in the metaverse.

The bank also intends on providing financial information in the metaverse and other virtual worlds; home banking services; virtual currency exchange; electronic transfer of virtual currencies; entertainment services, namely, providing virtual environments in which users can interact for recreational, leisure or entertainment purposes; sporting and cultural activities; and the development of an online virtual environment for users of electronic stock trading platforms, electronic marketplaces and electronic financial and monetary exchanges.

HSBC made its foray into the metaverse in March via a partnership with The Sandbox and launched virtual rugby quests on the metaverse platform in September.

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