Johnson and Johnson’s international healthcare firm files NFT/Metaverse-related trademarks for virtual oral hygiene items.
J&J Joins Top Organizations in the NFT space
A leading global healthcare company, Johnson and Johnson, has taken exciting steps to protect its brand assets in the virtual space by filing a trademark application. The main product they intend to cover with the trademark application is the antiseptic mouthwash LISTERINE. However, other brand products such as gums and mints are included in the list of items the trademark will cover.
Note that this trademark application is not the first to be filed by Johnson and Johnson; the healthcare company has been actively working towards preventing any unpermitted use of their brand products/services in NFTs and metaverse spaces. They had initially filed a trademark application for their Band-Aid brand and Motrin products.
Johnson and Johnson’s venture into the metaverse follows a trend of top companies delving into the virtual ecosystem. Big names such as Burger King, Crocs, and MasterCard are all getting into NFTs and filling trademarks for digital signature brand goods.
In addition, the subject of copyright and trademark infringement is one of the hottest current metaverse headlines. The most robust one yet involves Nike, currently pursuing legal action against StockX for depicting Nike products in their NFTs without authorization. That’s why several other major brands are moving to protect their proprietary items in the virtual space by filing for trademarks.
Details of Johnson and Johnson’s Trademark Application
The application was filed on April 12 with serial number 97358245, and the filing details indicated that it’s an NFT/Metaverse trademark application. The trademark covers a range of goods and services in three groups. The first category includes mouthwash, toothpaste, mints, gums, breath freshening products, and virtual oral care.
The second group includes digital assets like downloadable multimedia files containing text, audio and video files, artworks, and Non-fungible tokens. Finally, the last category covers online retail services; the filing will cover virtual goods and delivery of physical products. The online retail provision also includes leisure offerings such as “online non-downloadable virtual oral care, toothpaste, mouthwash, and other breath freshening products which exist exclusively in virtual environments specifically for entertainment purposes.”
Trademark Applications: Contributions to NFT and Metaverse’s Growth
The growth of the NFT and metaverse space has been nothing short of fascinating, and creators are constantly experimenting with new creative ideas to maximize the ecosystem. CNBC reported that the industry grew by a whopping 21000% in 2021, which places its value well above $17 billion.
Johnson and Johnson may not have originally intended to get into the NFT space, but they had to do it to protect their trademark products. In the same vein, we can expect several organizations to start exploring NFTs and the Metaverse, even if it’s only to protect their patents.
