Nike Ready To Join The Metaverse Movement

Nike Files Applications With The USPTO

Going by the records submitted to the United States Patent and Trademark Office on Wednesday, Nike has filed applications for its brand name “Nike”, its swoosh logo and the “just do it” slogan, which it hopes to be using in the online virtual world — metaverse.

Not stopping there, Nike also filed two more applications the following day, for the “Air Jordan” and “Jumpman” logos.

The filings, along with two recent job postings seeking to recruit virtual material designers, only goes to show that the company is preparing to have Nike-branded products in the metaverse.

Nike’s foray into the metaverse seems to be following in the footsteps of Facebook after the latter’s rebranding announcement.

But even though the apparels manufacturer seems to be moving its metaverse plans at the same pace with Facebook, it has already delved into nonfungible tokens NFTs, and other crypto-related ventures prior to this time. Back in 2019 for instance, the company patented a system that enabled it to tokenize its CryptoKicks shoes on the Ethereum blockchain.

There Might Be Competition

Meanwhile, the company is already having some serious competition in the metaverse. Having obtained the backing of Andreessen Horowitz, and others in an $8-million fundraising round in May, sneaker brand RTFKT Studios has released both its physical and virtual footwear.

Meanwhile Nike’s physical products are reportedly having numerous issues with delivering. These issues are bordering on shortage of staff, scarcity of shipping containers, pandemic-based restrictions, amongst many other reasons. But iys virtual offerings will most likely not be affected by the global supply chain issues.

Although. Nike produces most of its physical footwears from Indonesia and Vietnam, but the virtual products may be wholly produced at its Oregon headquarters.