Nara N 6 December 2022

Categories Innovation & Trends, Social Media, Technology

What Business Owners and Brands Need to Know About the Metaverse

Before making your way through this evolving space, find out what the metaverse is and what risks and challenges could lie within.

The Metaverse is one of the buzzwords on the internet right now. As in the early days of the internet, this innovation is likely to contain pockets of speculation, overestimation, and unwise investment, especially since the true Metaverse, as envisioned by tech visionaries, is still a long way off.

However, it is possible to separate reality from hype: understand the Metaverse and take practical and accessible steps to meet your company’s needs. In our metaverse guide, you will learn everything you need to know before entering this virtual reality. 

What is the Metaverse?

Simply put, the Metaverse doesn’t refer to any platform or specific location but is used to describe the broad application of new technologies. These technologies represent an evolution of the internet today and have their roots in blockchain, virtual reality, and AR (augmented reality).

The Metaverse represents a change in our relationship with the digital world with a more integrated physical and digital life. 

For brands and rights holders, these technologies mean changing consumer behavior, moving towards more immersive digital interactions with their customers, and many new business opportunities.

However, we already face the complex challenges of protecting intellectual property and brands, and it is vital that companies carefully plan their strategies. 

What Happens in the Metaverse?

To explain what happens, let’s look at several types of metaverses and explain what you and your brand can do in each of them. But before we dive into this Metaverse guide, here are a few definitions to keep in mind:

• NFT: The much-talked non-fungible token is a finite or unique digital token such as avatar clothing, digital art, or VR-based objects that you can acquire ownership or equity. Deep in its blockchain-based coding is a certificate that says you own or have ownership of an item.  

• NFT Real-Estate: A non-fungible digital home or piece of land in the Metaverse that can be used to build constructions, sell, or even rent out. Buyers receive a digital deed or certificate that they own the real estate.  

• Blockchain: The digital ledger of transactions, contracts, and certificates. 

• Cryptocurrency: Digital money you can invest, sell or use to buy goods online or in the Metaverse. Each type of digital coin has a different value. Popular examples are Ether, Dogecoin, and Bitcoin. 

• Open-source: Open to everyone for editing and usually not controlled by a brand or individual organization. Open-source metaverses may be found by developers who sell and service the world but may not have an explicit company owning them or customer support when things go wrong. However, they often provide users with much more freedom. 

What the Metaverse May be Tomorrow

The idea is for the Metaverse to be more than a 3D internet. For example, all money in the Metaverse must be cryptocurrencies and other digital assets. The metaverse environment should be fully compatible with transferring your avatar (with everything it owns and has done) from one to another.

These environments must also be persistent. After your avatar places these digital sneakers back on the digital rack, they stay there until another avatar tries them on. The Metaverse should also offer a mind-blowing immersive experience. It should also have some universal rules to govern it, rather than each platform provider setting its own.  

All of these concepts still need to be mature and fully formulated. Some of them will someday become so as the component technology advances. Ultimately, we must have an extraordinary, enduring 3D digital experience.

Cryptocurrencies and digital identities that people fully own and control to take them from one digital environment to another are also rapidly evolving. 

While such a vision of interoperability can certainly be realized, the companies that dominate the internet currently make a lot of money keeping consumers inside the “walled gardens” that collect and control data on the internet.

These platforms can also provide valuable services. They are planning to become major players in the Metaverse. 

What can Brands do Today?

Today the burden of protecting IP and using the metaverse power for the business falls on brand leaders and legal and brand protection teams. To develop metaverse brand protection strategies, Corsearch is working with the customer community.

• Consider setting up an internal metaverse-focused working group responsible for keeping up with rapidly evolving metaverse technologies, and invite your legal and brand protection groups. 

• Consider the strategy of your brand’s Metaverse. Establishing an early presence in Metaverse allows for the establishment of genuine brand awareness among metaverse users. For example, when you create an official NFT collection, you can trace NFTs to their original owners. 

• An audit IP can identify vulnerable areas of IP that could benefit from additional registered classes that protect your brand in the digital space. 

• Secure strategic partnerships as well as relationships with metaverse platforms. They do not always prioritize 3rd party IP issues when developing their businesses. The brands should inform the platforms about their problems and work together on possible solutions. 

• Work with a visionary brand protection provider with a solution that allows you to identify, prioritize and fix issues in the Metaverse.

What are Examples of Metaverse Platforms?

The Metaverse is described in the analogy of a mall, where different businesses offer various digital experiences. While some experiences are still speculative, there are a lot of possible Metaverse platforms to replace social media today.  

Decentraland

Decentraland allows users and creators to buy pieces of digital land on a platform where they can create their environments, marketplaces, and apps.

Real-world fashion exhibitors like Dolce & Gabbana, Tommy Hilfiger, and EstéeLauder were among the brands that jumped on the metaverse bandwagon to showcase their first-ever Decentraland Metaverse Fashion Week. 

Unfortunately, not only brands and legitimate businesses are taking notice of the opportunities the Metaverse has to offer. Opportunistic attackers, tech-savvy and able to move faster than bigger businesses, have flooded the Metaverse space with illegal digital assets and experience. 

Sandbox

Sandbox quickly evolved into the Metaverse and gained interest from the metaverse and NFT investors. After entering this Metaverse, your character can purchase and build on land with crypto known as LAND or SAND.

From there, it is possible to sell your land, build real estate, rent it out, meet people, make connections, or even get paid and buy more land through Sandbox jobs. 

Due to its credibility and authority in the metaverse space, Sandbox is home to many wealthy early adopters who have already bought real estate there, including companies like Attari, Adidas, and the rapper Snoop Dogg.

Moreover, since land plots and the number of SAND tokens that will be created in the game are “finite,” the price of the real estate, land, and tokens in this Metaverse has skyrocketed recently. 

Roblox

Roblox allows creators and brands to sell digital items in their in-game markets and stores in exchange for Robux virtual currency, which users can purchase with real money.

For example, Roblox hosted the Gucci Garden, where users could interact with the brand and even purchase limited-edition Gucci digital items that avatars could wear in Roblox. These virtual collectibles can be sold and traded between users. 

Conclusion

Although the Metaverse is a constantly evolving concept, it raises essential new questions. Most importantly, companies must actively monitor their intellectual property rights to ensure they aren’t violated in the Metaverse.

Additionally, businesses interested in becoming part of this space should keep an eye out for any potential infringement liability or other emerging risk areas like privacy concerns. In general, it will be necessary for companies to monitor developments in this area constantly, both in terms of opportunities and risks.