HSBC, a British multinational universal bank, has applied for trademarks for its name and logo relating to NFT and the Metaverse. HSBC filed its trademark application with the United States Trademark and Patent Office (USPTO) on 15th December 2022.
In a tweet on Friday, USPTO-licensed trademark attorney Mike Kondoudis observed that HSBC’s trademark applications indicated its plans for digital products and services, including virtual currency exchange and transfer.
The bank described a wide range of products and services as part of its applications, including sending and receiving digital currency, converting it, and storing it.
There are also several metaverse-related products and services described in the trademark applications, including “facilitating secure payment transactions by electronic means in the metaverse,” “delivering banking services in the metaverse,” and “processing virtual credit cards, virtual debit cards, virtual prepaid cards, and virtual payment cards.”
Several NFT services were also included by HSBC, including “downloadable digital files authenticated by non-fungible tokens (NFTs).”
There are two crypto-related trademark applications filed by HSBC on Dec. 15; their serial numbers are 97718803 and 97718583. Sending, receiving, converting, and storing digital currencies are just a few of the products and services described in the bank’s applications.
Banks and financial institutions like HSBC have been exploring NFTs and metaverses for some time.
In the same month, Sygnum launched its virtual metaverse space to educate the financial community about new products.
A platform for Ethereum-based NFT custody was launched by SEBA Bank in October. DBS Bank also collaborated with The Sandbox to create the “BetterWorld” metaverse in September to promote the value of building a better and more sustainable world.
A partnership between HSBC and The Sandbox enabled it to enter the metaverse in March, and Noel Quinn, HSBC Group CEO, said cryptocurrency is not in the bank’s future. Digital currency and metaverse products and services have been trademarked by many big corporations and financial institutions.
In October, Visa, Paypal, and Western Union filed crypto-related trademark applications. Fidelity filed three trademark applications on Dec 21, including those covering NFT, NFT marketplace, Metaverse Investment services, virtual real estate investing, and cryptocurrency trading.
A wallet trademark was also granted to JPMorgan Chase last month, covering a wide variety of virtual currencies and payment services.