元宇宙知識(shí)產(chǎn)權(quán)態(tài)勢報(bào)告 - GOV.UK

發(fā)布于2024年3月7日1.執(zhí)行摘要2.介紹3.專利分析4.商標(biāo)分析5.結(jié)論.uk/government/publications/an-analysis-of-the-metaverse-ip-landscape/an-analysis-of-the-metaverse-ip-landscape-html1/202024/3/1815:30MetaverseIP格局分析(HTML)-GOV.UK如果您希望以PDF格式閱讀此報(bào)告，請選擇頁面左側(cè)的“打印此頁”按鈕，然后選擇打印為PDF的選項(xiàng)。虛擬宇宙是一個(gè)沒有明確定義的概念，一些定義它的嘗試一直存在爭議。然而，由于該術(shù)語很受歡迎，我們決定在本報(bào)告中采用該術(shù)語。我們沒有將其使用限制在特定的定義中，而是使用該術(shù)語來廣泛地描述共享的在線虛擬空間。一般來說，訪問此元宇宙環(huán)境是通過現(xiàn)有硬件，例如頭戴式設(shè)備(HMD)。這種現(xiàn)有的硬件通常涉及比元宇宙一詞本身更古老的底層概念。本報(bào)告旨在概述與元宇宙相關(guān)的知識(shí)產(chǎn)權(quán)格局。它通過查看專利趨勢來實(shí)現(xiàn)這一點(diǎn)，通過使用相關(guān)關(guān)鍵字和分類的組合來找到相關(guān)專利。本報(bào)告特別關(guān)注國際專利族(IPF)，即已在至少兩個(gè)不同機(jī)構(gòu)提交的專利申請。除了專利狀況外，本報(bào)告還研究了與元宇宙相關(guān)的商標(biāo)狀況。它通過對商品和服務(wù)描述進(jìn)行自由文本分析，并搜索與元宇宙相關(guān)的特定術(shù)語來實(shí)現(xiàn)這一點(diǎn)。截至2021年6月30日，共發(fā)現(xiàn)71,738個(gè)與虛擬宇宙相關(guān)的IPF。該報(bào)告發(fā)現(xiàn)，在查看每個(gè)出版年的IPF時(shí)，與Metaverse相關(guān)的專利數(shù)量從2015年（3,027個(gè)IPF）到2018年（4,683個(gè)IPF）急劇增加。此外，最受歡迎的發(fā)明人所在地是美國，擁有26,196個(gè)IPF。日本是第二受歡迎的國家，其IPF數(shù)量不到美國的一半。除了原始專利數(shù)量之外，該報(bào)告還使用相對專業(yè)化指數(shù)（RSI）來研究專業(yè)化。英國的RSI值為0.15，表明與元宇宙相關(guān)的專利申請的專業(yè)程度。英國在與虛擬世界相關(guān)的專利申請方面比法國和德國等其他歐洲國家更加專業(yè)化，這兩個(gè)國家的RSI值為負(fù)，表明與虛擬世界相關(guān)的專利申請的專業(yè)化程度較低。高通是擁有元宇宙相關(guān)IPF最多的公司，擁有2,811個(gè)IPF。華為一直在快速增加元界相關(guān)IPF的數(shù)量，2021年發(fā)布的IPF比2015年增加了190%。在商標(biāo)申請方面，與虛擬世界相關(guān)的申請?jiān)絹碓绞軞g迎。截至2023年6月30日，已發(fā)現(xiàn)31,503件與Metaverse相關(guān)的英國商標(biāo)申請。2010年之前，這些申請大多數(shù)與商品相關(guān)，但近年來，與元宇宙相關(guān)的服務(wù)商標(biāo)申請?jiān)絹碓绞軞g迎。此外，描述字段中包含虛擬現(xiàn)實(shí)相關(guān)單詞或短語的商標(biāo)申請數(shù)量從2014年到2018年增加了五倍，2022年英國商標(biāo)申請中約有2.36%包含規(guī)范術(shù)語“虛擬現(xiàn)實(shí)”?？傊?，本報(bào)告強(qiáng)調(diào)，虛擬世界的日益普及反映在知識(shí)產(chǎn)權(quán)趨勢中，而這種知識(shí)產(chǎn)權(quán)趨勢可以成為跟蹤新興技術(shù)的有用證據(jù)基礎(chǔ)。.uk/government/publications/an-analysis-of-the-metaverse-ip-landscape/an-analysis-of-the-metaverse-ip-landscape-html3/202024/3/1815:30MetaverseIP格局分析(HTML)-GOV.UK虛擬宇宙是一個(gè)沒有明確定義的概念，一些定義它的嘗試一直存在爭議。然而，由于該術(shù)語很受歡迎，我們決定在本報(bào)告中采用該術(shù)語。我們沒有將其使用限制在特定的定義中，而是使用該術(shù)語來廣泛地描述共享的在線虛擬空間。近年來，這個(gè)領(lǐng)域引起了人們的廣泛關(guān)注，許多不同的公司正在開發(fā)技術(shù)以使用戶能夠訪問這種共享的虛擬現(xiàn)實(shí)。值得注意的是Meta（原Facebook于2021年更名，以反映該公司對虛擬世界的新關(guān)注。[腳注1]一般來說，對元宇宙環(huán)境的訪問是通過頭戴式設(shè)備（HMD）等硬件來實(shí)現(xiàn)的，并輔以適當(dāng)?shù)能浖_發(fā)。其中一些硬件技術(shù)已經(jīng)存在多年，虛擬宇宙可以被認(rèn)為是這種已有技術(shù)的新應(yīng)用。虛擬宇宙是一個(gè)快速新興、創(chuàng)新且具有潛在顛覆性的領(lǐng)域，幾乎沒有具體的監(jiān)管。預(yù)計(jì)元界用戶數(shù)量在不久的將來將迅速增長，預(yù)計(jì)到2030年用戶數(shù)量將超過14億，預(yù)計(jì)到2030年市場規(guī)模將達(dá)到4,904億美元。[腳注2][腳注3]知識(shí)產(chǎn)權(quán)處于新興技術(shù)的前沿，對專利和商標(biāo)申請的申請趨勢進(jìn)行分析可以深入了解一個(gè)行業(yè)內(nèi)的行為。對與虛擬世界相關(guān)的知識(shí)產(chǎn)權(quán)的分析將有助于建立虛擬世界的證據(jù)基礎(chǔ)，從而促進(jìn)監(jiān)管的發(fā)展并了解其更廣泛的影響。本報(bào)告總結(jié)了與元宇宙相關(guān)的專利和商標(biāo)申請趨勢，以拓寬對該技術(shù)知識(shí)產(chǎn)權(quán)格局的理解。出于本報(bào)告的目的，使用了元界的廣泛定義，以便捕獲元界一詞之前可能存在的基礎(chǔ)技術(shù)。本報(bào)告中使用的元宇宙的定義與政府關(guān)于“啟用國家網(wǎng)絡(luò)物理基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施（CPI）以促進(jìn)創(chuàng)新”的咨詢文件的定義一致。其中，元節(jié)定義為：““元宇宙”描述了一種特定類型的網(wǎng)絡(luò)物理系統(tǒng)，特別關(guān)注物理世界和數(shù)字世界的沉浸式視覺集成，以實(shí)現(xiàn)協(xié)作、娛樂、社交以及虛擬服務(wù)和操作的訪問?！盵腳注4]”本報(bào)告著眼于全球范圍內(nèi)與元宇宙相關(guān)的專利情況，以及英國的具體情況。然后，它使用與元宇宙相關(guān)的術(shù)語調(diào)查英國商標(biāo)申請的趨勢。3.1方法論專利數(shù)據(jù)是通過查詢PatentSight（由LexisNexis提供的商用專利數(shù)據(jù)庫）檢索的。[腳注5]這是使用結(jié)合關(guān)鍵詞和相關(guān)IPC/CPC分類的定制搜索策略進(jìn)行查詢的。使用的查詢可以在附錄A中找到。檢索僅限于2000年起發(fā)布的專利，截至并包括提取之日（2023年6月30日）可用的數(shù)據(jù)。由于標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的專利發(fā)布延遲18個(gè)月，2022年至2023年的專利數(shù)據(jù)不完整。因此，2022年至2023年的數(shù)據(jù)已從日期相關(guān)圖表中排除，但已包含在總數(shù)中。該檢索使用了國際專利家族(IPF)，這些專利家族至少向兩個(gè).uk/government/publications/an-analysis-of-the-metaverse-ip-landscape/an-analysis-of-the-metaverse-ip-landscape-html4/202024/3/1815:30MetaverseIP格局分析(HTML)-GOV.UK機(jī)構(gòu)提交了申請。使用IPF是因?yàn)榕c使用已公布專利申請的絕對計(jì)數(shù)相比，它們是衡量發(fā)明活動(dòng)更可靠的方法。IPF是發(fā)明活動(dòng)的中立代理，因?yàn)樗鼈儍H代表申請人認(rèn)為足夠重要以尋求國際保護(hù)的發(fā)明，從而對專利質(zhì)量和價(jià)值提供一定程度的控制。它們創(chuàng)建了足夠同質(zhì)的專利族群體，可以直接相互比較，從而減少在比較不同國家專利局的專利申請時(shí)經(jīng)常出現(xiàn)的國家偏見。截至2023年6月30日，已發(fā)現(xiàn)71,738個(gè)與虛擬宇宙相關(guān)的IPF。3.2結(jié)果圖1顯示了與虛擬世界相關(guān)的國際專利族(IPF)的數(shù)量如何從2000年發(fā)布的1,260個(gè)增加到2021年發(fā)布的4,167個(gè)IPF。這一增長趨勢與過去一年中所有技術(shù)發(fā)布的IPF的增長趨勢大致相似。同一時(shí)間段。從2013年到2018年，每年發(fā)布的MetaverseIPF似乎顯著增加，2018年MetaverseIPF的數(shù)量比2013年增加了68%。相比之下，所有技術(shù)的IPF僅比2013年增加了15%大體時(shí)間。元宇宙IPF的主要增長可以從2015年至2018年看出，同期所有IPF的增長速度均較慢。原始數(shù)據(jù)見附錄C表1。NumberofMtaverseIPFs4,5004,0000400,000350,000300,000250,000200,00050,0000NumberofIPFsinAlltechnologies200020012002200320042005200620072008200920102011201220132014201520162Publica?onYear圖1：2000-2021年每個(gè)出版年的Metaverse相關(guān)國際專利族(IPF)數(shù)量與每年所有技術(shù)的IPF數(shù)量相比。圖2顯示了按發(fā)明人所在地劃分的MetaverseIPF數(shù)量。發(fā)明人國家/地區(qū)是通過查看提供的發(fā)明人地址來確定的。如果IPF有多位來自不同國家的發(fā)明人，則按每個(gè)發(fā)明人所在國家計(jì)算一次。這意味著這里所有IPF的總和可能高于與.uk/government/publications/an-analysis-of-the-metaverse-ip-landscape/an-analysis-of-the-metaverse-ip-landscape-html5/202024/3/1815:30MetaverseIP格局分析(HTML)-GOV.UKmetaverse相關(guān)的IPF總數(shù)。本報(bào)告中使用發(fā)明國作為創(chuàng)新活動(dòng)地點(diǎn)的代表。美國是迄今為止最受歡迎的發(fā)明家國家，超過三分之一的虛擬世界IPF至少有一名發(fā)明家位于美國。排名前十的發(fā)明人國家如圖2所示，進(jìn)一步數(shù)據(jù)參見附錄C表2。按發(fā)明人國家的虛擬IPF數(shù)量排名，英國排名第六，有3,682個(gè)IPF。0772,,,,JapanInventorCountry圖2：從2000年起發(fā)布的每個(gè)發(fā)明國的MetaverseIPF數(shù)量。調(diào)查專利的絕對數(shù)量只能提供有限的見解。為了更好地了解哪些國家可能專門從事與元宇宙相關(guān)的專利申請，查看相對專業(yè)化指數(shù)(RSI)很有用。該指數(shù)表明一個(gè)國家在某項(xiàng)特定技術(shù)上發(fā)明了多少專利，與該國家發(fā)明的專利總數(shù)相比。因此，它表明一個(gè)國家在特定技術(shù)中發(fā)明的專利是否比預(yù)期的要多，考慮到一個(gè)國家專利申請的總體水平。然后可以將其與其他國家的相同衡量標(biāo)準(zhǔn)進(jìn)行比較，以表明某些國家在特定技術(shù)的專利申請方面是否比其他國家更專業(yè)。如果一個(gè)國家的RSI值為正，則表明其在技術(shù)領(lǐng)域的專業(yè)程度較高，值越高表明專業(yè)程度越高。相反，負(fù)值表明專業(yè)程度較低，負(fù)值越大表明專業(yè)程度越低。然而，RSI是一個(gè)相對衡量標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，這意味著RSI值會(huì)因技術(shù)領(lǐng)域的專利申請水平不同而有所不同。這意味著RSI值本身在不同技術(shù)之間不具有可比性，但不同國家在不同技術(shù)上的排名可以提供一些見解。有關(guān)如何計(jì)算RSI的詳細(xì)信息，請參閱附錄B。LookingspecificallyatRSIforIPFsrelatingtothemetaverse,Figure3showsthatbothIsraelandIndiaappeartohavethehighestdegreeofspecialism,withRSIvaluesof0.30and0.29,respectively.AnumberofthecountriesshownhavepositiveRSIvalues,indicatingthesearemore.uk/government/publications/an-analysis-of-the-metaverse-ip-landscape/an-analysis-of-the-metaverse-ip-landscape-html6/202024/3/1815:30MetaverseIP格局分析(HTML)-GOV.UKspecialisedwhenitcomestometaverseIPFsthanwouldbeexpectedgiventheoveralllevelsofpatentsbeinginventedinthesecountries.TheUKhasanRSIvalueof0.15,whichishigherthantheRSIvaluesseenforotherEuropeancountrieswithsimilardemographicssuchasGermany(RSIof-0.25)andFrance(-0.03).NormalisedRela?veSpecialisaitonIndex(RSI)-0.40-0.30-0.20-0.100.000.100.200.300.40InventorCountry AustraliaSingapore CanadaInventorCountryChina NetherlandsSwitzerlandGermanyJapan-0.2-0.26-0.26-0.04-0.07-0-0.0-0.04-0.07-0-0.04400.0200.050.300.29Figure3:RelativeSpecialisationIndex(RSI)forMetaverseIPFsperinventorcountryforselectedcountries,publishedfrom2000onwards.Itisusefultounderstandwhothetopownersofpatentsarewithinatechnologysector,andassuchthisreportlooksatthetopownersofIPFsrelatingtothemetaverse.Figure4showsthetoptenownersofIPFsrelatingtothemetaverse,whereit’sclearthatinformationtechnologycompaniesarethemostactiveinthissector.FurtherdatacanbefoundinAppendixC,Table3.QualcommhasthemostIPFsrelatingtothemetaverse,with2,811IPFs,accountingforaround4%ofallmetaverse.uk/government/publications/an-analysis-of-the-metaverse-ip-landscape/an-analysis-of-the-metaverse-ip-landscape-html7/202024/3/1815:30MetaverseIP格局分析(HTML)-GOV.UKQualcommSamsungSonyMicrosoōLGElectronicsAlphabetHuaweiNokiaSiemensApple05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0002,5592,0751,3299719309258726982,5592,0751,3299719309258726982,811Figure4:NumberofMetaverseIPFsperowner,publishedfrom2000onwards.Figure5looksatthenumberofmetaverseIPFspublishedperyearforthetopownersidentifiedabove.Thisislimitedto2015-2021tofocusonthemostrecenttrendsforthesetopowners.HuaweihavebeensteadilyincreasingthenumberofmetaverseIPFspublishedperyear,increasingover190%from48IPFspublishedin2015,to140IPFspublishedin2021.Thisincreaseappearstobemostprominentbetween2020and2021,suggestinganincreaseinHuawei’sfocusinthisarea.LGappeartohavepublishedahighnumberofIPFsin2019(284)comparedtootheryears.Appleappeartohaveincreasedtheirpatentingactivityinthisareafromaround2019.LookingatQualcomm,thenumberofmetaverseIPFspublishedperyearseemstohavesignificantlydroppedafter2018,with53%lessIPFspublishedin2019comparedto2018..uk/government/publications/an-analysis-of-the-metaverse-ip-landscape/an-analysis-of-the-metaverse-ip-landscape-html8/202024/3/1815:30MetaverseIP格局分析(HTML)-GOV.UK300250200150100500AlphabetAppleHuaweiLGElectronicsMicrosoōNokiaQualcommSamsungSiemensSony2015201620172018201920202021Figure5:NumberofmetaverseIPFsfortoptenowners,groupedbypublicationyear,2015-2021.MovingtolookspecificallyattheUKpicture,Figure6looksspecificallyatthenumberofmetaverseIPFsinventedintheUKperpublicationyearcomparedtothenumberofIPFsinalltechnologieswhichwereinventedintheUK.ThenumberofmetaverseIPFsperyearbroadlyfollowsthetrendforallIPFsperyear,withtheexceptionof2010.In2010thereisasignificantspikewherethenumberofmetaverseIPFsjumps162%onthepreviousyear,beforedroppingbacktoamorebaselinelevelfrom2011onwards.Furtherinvestigationintothispeakshowsthatitisanincreaseacrossmultipleowners,ratherthanbeinglimitedtooneowner.Inaddition,thetechnologysplitforIPFspublishedin2010isbroadlysimilartothetechnologysplitformetaverseIPFsacrossthewholetimeperiodinvestigated..uk/government/publications/an-analysis-of-the-metaverse-ip-landscape/an-analysis-of-the-metaverse-ip-landscape-html9/202024/3/1815:30MetaverseIP格局分析(HTML)-GOV.UK00UKIPFsinalltechnologiesPublica?onyearFigure6:NumberofMetaverserelatedInternationalPatentFamilies(IPFs)perpublicationyearinventedintheUK,comparedtothenumberofIPFsinalltechnologiesperyear,2000-2021.MovingtolookatthetopownersofmetaverseIPFsinventedintheUK,Figure7showsthatthesebroadlyalignwiththetopplayersworldwideinthisfield.AcompanysuchasBAEsystemsmaynotbeexpected,butfurtheranalysisshowsthatwithinmetaverserelatedIPFs,BAEaremostlyactiveintechnologiesrelatingtohead-mounteddisplays.AnumberoftheseinternationalcompaniesemployUKbasedinventors,whichiswhythesecompaniesappearwhenlookingatmetaverserelatedIPFsinventedintheUK..uk/government/publications/an-analysis-of-the-metaverse-ip-landscape/an-analysis-of-the-metaverse-ip-landscape-html10/202024/3/1815:30MetaverseIP格局分析(HTML)-GOV.UKOwnerSonyQualcommMicrosoōCirrusLogicSnapAlphabetAppleSamsung02040608010TopUKownersofMetaverseIPFspublishedfrom2000onwards.4.TrademarkanalysisAnalysisfortrademarksrelevanttothescopeofthismetaverseanalysiswereconductedbyfilteringthetrademarksspecificationfieldforeachapplicationintheUKIPO’sdatabaseof4.1millionapplicationsagainstalistofcoreterms,foroneormorematches.ItisworthnotingthattherehasbeenasignificantincreaseinthetotalnumberoftrademarkapplicationsmadetotheIPOsince2016.Thesehavebeenmostlyattributedtothreefactors,asdiscussedintheIPO’sannualFactsandFiguresstatisticalpublication.ThesefactorsareasignificantsurgeinapplicationsfromChina,theCOVID-19pandemicandfilingsdrivenbytheUK’sexitfromtheEuropeanUnion.ThefirsttworeasonshaveseenthenumberofapplicationsincreaseforthemajorityofIPofficesglobally[footnote6],howeverthesizeofthisincreaseismuchsmallerintheseIPofficessincetheUK’sexitfromtheEuropeanUnionwhichisanextrafactorinincreasedmarkfilingsfortheIPO.[footnote7].uk/government/publications/an-analysis-of-the-metaverse-ip-landscape/an-analysis-of-the-metaverse-ip-landscape-html11/202024/3/1815:30MetaverseIP格局分析(HTML)-GOV.UKAsummaryoftermsusedandthecorrespondingmatchingfrequenciescanbefoundinAppendixD.ThespecificationfieldispopulatedduringtheapplicationprocessbythecustomertodefinetheprotectionsassociatedwiththeirIPright.Thisisdoneeitherbyselectingfromapre-approvedlistoftermsorviaafreetextdescriptionbox.ItisimportanttodifferentiatetrademarksfromothertypesofIPforthecontextofcorrectlyinterpretinganalysis.Atrademarkdoesnothavetheindustrialapplicationrequirementsofapatent,whichaffectshowwemayinterpretourfindings,particularlyforanemergingtechnologysuchasthemetaverse.Forexample,alargecompanycouldspecify100productareasinasingleapplicationtofutureprooftheirbrand,oranewssitecouldspecifyhottopicareasdespitenoproductsinthefield.Thereforetrademarksactivityarguablycouldbeconsideredasaproxyformarketactivity,asopposedtopatentsprovidingameasureofinnovation.Asof30June2023atotalof31,503trademarksapplicationswerematchedtothelistofcoreterms,with27,396matchesontheterm‘virtualreality’,withusageofthistermoriginatingaround20yearsago.Therewerealso831matchesontheterm‘metaverse’whichroughlyalignswithaseparatepieceofanalysisthatevaluatedTradeMarksusingsentenceembeddingsandfoundaclusterofcirca1,100applicationsrelatedtovirtualgoods&NFTs–abroaderandoutofscopefieldforthisanalysis.ThereforeitshouldbenotedthatfullmatchesonourcoretermsdescribesthevirtualrealitylandscapeasawholewhichislikelymuchlargerthantheIPactivityrelatedspecificallytothemetaverse.Figure8showshowthenumberoftrademarkapplicationsrelatingtometaversecoretermshassignificantlyincreasedbetween2001to2022.Thereappearstohavebeenapeakin2019,with4,758trademarkapplicationsrelatingtothemetaversebeingmadeinthisyear.Therewasaslightdeclinein2020to2021,withanotherincreaseinto2022.Overall,thenumberofapplicationsmadein2022(4,045)hasincreasedbyafactorof8comparedwithtenyearsprior(396applicationsin2012).Thesplitbetweengoodsandservicesappearstohavebeenchangingasthenumberofapplicationsincrease,withservicesincreasinginpopularityovertime.In2002,servicesaccountedforjust13%ofmetaverserelatedtrademarkapplications.Thisrisesto31%in2012,andfurtherincreasesto41%in2022.Suchanincreasesuggestsasubstantiallyincreasingpopularityinservice-relatedtrademarksrelatingtothemetaverse.ThismayberelatedtotheVRandmetaversesectorstillbeingrelativelyexpensivetotheconsumer..uk/government/publications/an-analysis-of-the-metaverse-ip-landscape/an-analysis-of-the-metaverse-ip-landscape-html12/202024/3/1815:30MetaverseIP格局分析(HTML)-GOV.UKNumberoftrademarkapplica?ons500045004000350030002500200050002000200120022003200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021202220002001200220032004200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019202020212022GoodsServicesFigure8:NumberoftrademarkapplicationsperyearwhichmatchedtocoretermsrelatingtotheMetaverse,2001-June2023.Lookingatthetopapplicantsofmetaverse-relatedtrademarkapplicationsintheUK,showninFigure9,itisclearthatarangeofdifferentcompaniesareactiveintrademarkapplicationsinthisarea.SkyLimitedarethetopapplicants,with607metaverse-relatedtrademarkapplications.Huaweiranksecondhighest,with502metaverse-relatedtrademarkapplications.Interestingly,Huaweialsorankeighthformetaverserelatedpatenting,whichsuggeststhiscompanymaybeseekingtobuildametaverse-relatedIPportfolio.CompanyNameGuangdongOppoMobileTelecommunica?onsCorp.,Ou?it7LimitedNumberoftrademarkapplica?ons0100200.uk/government/publications/an-analysis-of-the-metaverse-ip-landscape/an-analysis-of-the-metaverse-ip-landscape-html13/202024/3/1815:30MetaverseIP格局分析(HTML)-GOV.UKFigure9:Topcompaniesbynumberoftrademarkapplicationsrelatingtothemetaverse,2001-June2023.Figure10looksattrademarkswheretheirgoodsandservicesdescriptionsexplicitlyusetheterm‘metaverse’,ratherthanthebroadertermsusedinthetrademarkanalysisthusfar.Thereasoningforthisisthattheterm‘metaverse’isrelativelynew,andhasbeenincreasinginpopularityinrecentyears.Before2021ithadnotbeenusedinaUKtrademarkgoodsandservicesdescription.Between2021toJune2023,‘metaverse’wasused831times.Assuch,lookingspecificallyattrademarksusingthistermcouldyieldsomeinterestingresults.Thischartlooksatmonthlyfilingsusingtheterm‘metaverse’fromOctober2021untilJune2023,inordertobeabletoinvestigatetrendsatamoregranularlevelcomparedtoannuallevels.Fromthischart,itisclearthattherewasasubstantialincreaseinpopularityoftrademarkscontainingtheterm‘metaverse’fromaroundMarchtoJuly2022,withthenumberoftrademarksfiledinJuly2022risingto227%ofthenumberfiledinFebruary2022.Interestingly,servicetrademarksappeartobemorepopularwhenlookingspecificallyattheterm‘metaverse’.Thisdiffersfromwhatisseenwhenincludingtrademarksusingothermetaverse-relatedterms,wheregoodsareconsistentlymorepopular.Thismaybereflectinghow‘metaverse’isarelativelynewlyemergingterm,wheretherearemoreservicesusingtheterm,whilstmoredevelopedtechnologiesaremorelikelytohaveahigherdegreeofproduct-relatedtrademarks.Numberoftrademarkapplica?onsOct-21Nov-21Dec-21Jan-22Feb-22Mar-22Apr-22May-22Jun-22Jul-22Aug-22Sep-22Oct-22Nov-22Dec-22Jan-23Numberoftrademarkapplica?onsOct-21Nov-21Dec-21Jan-22Feb-22Mar-22Apr-22May-22Jun-22Jul-22Aug-22Sep-22Oct-22Nov-22Dec-22Jan-23Feb-23Mar-23Apr-23May-23Jun-2380400GoodsServices.uk/government/publications/an-analysis-of-the-metaverse-ip-landscape/an-analysis-of-the-metaverse-ip-landscape-html14/202024/3/1815:30MetaverseIP格局分析(HTML)-GOV.UKFigure10:Trademarkapplicationscontainingthetermmetaversepermonth,October2021-June2023.Whilstconductingthisanalysis,itwasfoundthattheterm‘virtualreality’wasthemostpopulartermintrademarksrelatedtothemetaverse,where25,510trademarkapplicationswereidentifiedwhichincludedtheterm‘virtualreality.’Assuchanimportanttermwithinthemetaverselexicon,itinvestigatingtrendsrelatingspecificallytotheterm‘virtualreality’mayprovidefurtherinsights.Thisisatermwhichhasbeeninuseoveralongertimeperiodthanthetermmetaverse,andassuchitwasworthanalysinguseofthetermbetween2001andJune2023.ThistrendisshowninFigure11,wherethenumberoftrademarkapplicationsusingtheterm‘virtualreality’isshownperyear.Incombinationwiththis,alineisshowntoindicatetheproportionoftotaltrademarkapplicationsperyearwhichusetheterm‘virtualreality.’Fromthischart,itisclearthattherewasasignificantincreaseintrademarksusingtheterm’virtualreality’from2015to2019,withapplications345%higherin2019comparedto2015.TheproportionofallUKtrademarksincludingtheterm‘virtualreality’hasalsoincreased,risingfrom0.25%in2012toapeakof2.36%in2022.Thisincreasesuggeststrademarkapplicationscontainingtheterm‘virtualreality’areofincreasingimportancetoapplicantsfilingintheUK.ThisuptrendcorroborateswithprojectedindustrygrowthofVR;expectedtonearlydoubleinmarketsizefrom2022to2025.[footnote8].uk/government/publications/an-analysis-of-the-metaverse-ip-landscape/an-analysis-of-the-metaverse-ip-landscape-html15/202024/3/1815:30MetaverseIP格局分析(HTML)-GOV.UK45004000350030002500200050000.5%0.0%200020002001200220032004200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019Trademarkapplica?onsusingthespeci?ca?onterm‘virtualreality’2020202120222023.H1Propor?onofalltrademarkapplica?onsusingthespeci?caitonterm'virtualFigure11:Trademarkapplicationsusingthespecificationterm‘virtualreality’,andproportionofalltrademarkapplicationsusingthespecificationterm‘virtualreality’,2000toJune2023.Source:IPOtrademarkdataTherehasbeenasignificantincreaseinbothpatentandtrademarkactivityinrelationtothemetaverseinrecentyears.ThenumberofIPFsrelatingtothemetaverseincreased68%in2018comparedto2013,whilstthenumberoftrademarksfiledintheUKrelatingtothemetaverseincreasedseven-foldbetweenthesameyears.ThisincreaseinIPactivityreflectstheincreasingpopularityofthemetaverse,andmayindicatethatthetechnologyiscontinuingtodevelop..uk/government/publications/an-analysis-of-the-metaverse-ip-landscape/an-analysis-of-the-metaverse-ip-landscape-html16/202024/3/1815:30MetaverseIP格局分析(HTML)-GOV.UKLookingspecificallyatpatents,theUSAisthemostpopularinventorlocationforIPFsrelatingtothemetaverse,andalsohasanRSIof0.16.ThissuggeststheUSAisalsospecialisedtosomedegreeintermsofinnovationrelatingtothemetaverse.TheUKisthesixthmostpopularinventorcountryforIPFsrelatingtothemetaverse,andhasanRSIof0.15.WhilstthenumberofmetaverseIPFsinventedintheUK(3,682)isbroadlysimilartootherEuropeancountriessuchasFrance(3,207)andGermany(5,362),theUK’sRSIvalue(0.15)isnotablyhigherthanbothofthese(-0.04forFranceand-0.26forGermany).ThisissuggestingahigherdegreeofspecialismformetaverseIPFsinventedintheUKcomparedtobothFranceandGermany.Intermsofownership,largemultinationalinformationtechnologycompaniesarethemostactiveinthisarea,withQualcommisthetopapplicantforInternationalPatentFamilies(IPFs)relatingtothemetaverse.Somecompanies,suchasLG,havebeenveryactiveinindividualyears,buthaveseenloweractivityinotheryears.Bycontrast,othercompaniessuchasHuaweihavebeensignificantlyincreasingtheirpatentingactivityinrecentyears.Movingtotrademarks,itisnotablethatclassesrelatingtoservicesareincreasinglypopularforUKtrademarkapplicationsrelatingtothemetaverse.Whenlookingspecificallyattrademarksspecificallyusingtheterm‘metaverse’intheirdescription,servicesaremorepopularthangoods.TopownersofUKtrademarkapplicationsrelatingtothemetaversevarymorebyindustrycomparedtothantopmetaversepatentsowners.HuaweiisthetopapplicantofUKtrademarkapplicationsrelatingtothemetaverse,andarealsoveryactiveinfilingforpatentsrelatingtothemetaverse.Useoftheterm‘virtualreality’intrademarkdescriptionshasalsobeenincreasingsignificantly,wherearound2.36%ofallUKtrademarkapplicationsin2022usedtheterm‘virtualreality’.ThisanalysishighlightsthatIPactivityinrelationtothemetaversehasbeenincreasingmostlyinrecentyears,whichisareflectionofthetechnology’sincreasingpopularity.Asanewlyemergingtechnology,itislikelythatIPfilinginthissectorwillcontinuetoincreasesignificantlyinfutureyears..uk/government/publications/an-analysis-of-the-metaverse-ip-landscape/an-analysis-of-the-metaverse-ip-landscape-html17/202024/3/1815:30MetaverseIP格局分析(HTML)-GOV.UK(tac=(Metavers*或(metaclose3(vers*或univers))或((((虛擬或增強(qiáng)或混合*或擴(kuò)展)near3realit)或VR)NEAR5((共享*或聯(lián)合*或多人*或多人*或在線*或協(xié)作*或多個(gè)*或許多*或幾個(gè)*或眾多）near3（人*或人*或用戶*或人*或個(gè)人NEAR5（環(huán)境或世界*或周圍*或設(shè)置*或位置*或場景*或宇宙)))或((沉浸在3數(shù)字附近)near5(環(huán)境或世界*或環(huán)繞*或設(shè)置*或位置*或場景*或宇宙))或HMD或耳機(jī)或OHMD或PHMD*或VRD或（虛擬*視網(wǎng)膜*顯示器）或（視網(wǎng)膜掃描顯示器）或RSD或耳機(jī)*或（（（頭*或頭盔*或頭骨）near2（安裝或佩戴*或連接*或緊固*或固定near4（顯示器或屏幕*或監(jiān)視器*或電視*或電視或（數(shù)字近3（雙胞胎*或人類*或人或（Tac=（