According to USPTO licensed trademark attorney, Mike Kondoudis, there have been over 3600 NFT (Non-fungible token), crypto (and related services) trademarks so far in 2022. This is more than the number of trademark filings for all of 2021, which totaled at 3516.
According to the data shared by Kondoudis (based on USPTO data), March had the highest number of trademarks, while August had the least. Moreover, the number of trademarks has been gradually declining since March. This is consistent with the hype surrounding the NFT space. The non-fungible industry topped out in March, before gradually declining.
Is interest in NFT decreasing? Or increasing?
So this begs the question of interest if NFTs are slowly declining. If that were the case, then the number of trademark filings should have likewise been less than 2021. Well, there are some explanations for this. Firstly, the NFT hype did not start right at the beginning of 2021, albeit it was in early 2021. Secondly, it is possible that the non-fungible craze of 2021 was fuelled more by hype, and less by the understanding of the space.
Come 2022, people are more aware of the industry. Moreover, the companies filing for trademarks are now well aware of where the future is headed.
According to research by Juniper Research, NFT transactions will reach 40 million in the next five years. Furthermore, the study by Ripple found that non-fungibles related to music performed the best. This also coincides with world-class musicians filing for NFT trademarks. Snoop Dogg has been at the forefront of web3 support with many metaverse projects as well as a music video featuring his Bored Ape, alongside fellow-rapper Eminem.
Recently, Sony Music also filed for a trademark application. According to the document, the company is considering employing NFTs to authenticate attendees of live events as well as downloaded audio and video recordings.