EU Trademarks in the Metaverse

This article examines the impact of the metaverse on EU trademark rights. The metaverse is still in a nascent state and may or may not happen in the future. Nevertheless, metaverse environments and experiences are becoming a reality, as illustrated by ongoing litigation in the United States involving use of trademarks in NFTs. These disputes serve as a background for an examination of the challenges that the metaverse is likely to pose to EU trademark law. Over a decade ago, EU courts confronted novel questions of infringement claims relating to virtual uses of registered marks by search engines, online marketplaces, and advertisers. Their answers may need to be re-considered for trademark uses in the metaverse. Quite recently, EU trademark law also underwent a major overhaul around new broader categories of registrable marks, new technology-friendly registration requirements, more expansive exclusive rights, and new limitations. This legislative update pre-dated the metaverse by quite a few years, but it may still offer potential solutions to metaverse challenges.