Welcome to the Metaverse
Imagine a world where you could be in two different places at the same time, where you exist in two different worlds: the virtual one and the real one. While your virtual persona attends virtual meetings and interacts with other virtual characters, you spend quality time unwinding in reality. This could be the future of technology. Welcome to the Metaverse.
What is the Metaverse?
The Metaverse is still a nascent concept that is abstract to its very core idea. There is no fixed definition as to what it would precisely mean. However, a Metaverse is a type of virtual world or reality that exists in cyberspace. According to the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), Metaverse is defined as “a borderless, virtual world encompassing work, play, entertainment and more, is considered a next evolution of the Internet changing the world”. While the Seventh Session of the WIPO Conversation did not deal with the Metaverse in specific, it focussed on AI, NFT’s, AR and VR technologies that enable the Metaverse and discussed the challenges Metaverse poses to the traditional IP systems. The goal is to create a reality with avatars and an appealing user interface on which the user’s characters can socialise, play games; create, buy and sell goods. For instance, Decentaland, a Metaverse platform that enables users to buy and tell virtual land in exchange of Ethereum which is a cryptocurrency, in 2022 hosted a fashion show in the Metaverse on virtual lands bought on the platform and using digital fashion bought as NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens). Brands like Etro, Dundas, Dolce & Gabbana and Estée Lauder participated in it as well. These are expected to happen and continue existing even without user intervention.
This reality is achieved through a sense of immersion of virtual reality, user-agency and real-time interactivity of the users. Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality help achieve this integration of digital and the real world. Augmented Reality helps in overlaying digital elements onto the real-world landscape through a smartphone or tablet camera or specialised AR glasses. The best example of this would be the game Pokémon Go. The game is built around users trying to find Pokémon characters around them and “capturing” them. The user shows their device camera around and sees the character on the screen through Augmented Reality to “capture” the character. Virtual Reality is a digital simulation that is fully immersive and is accessed through VR headsets.
Patentability of the Metaverse
The Metaverse market is expected to achieve a market size of USD 507.8 billion by 2030 and the number of users is expected to reach over 2.6 billion. Furthermore, close to 390,000 patent applications are pending for AR, VR and metaverse-related technologies, with China and the US in the front running. These numbers denote an upward trend in the Metaverse market and also an increase in usage of the Metaverse by various spheres of society.
Different components constitute the Metaverse: the hardware and software components. The hardware components could be a VR headset, sensory glasses, innovative processing units and display units. The software components could be algorithms, codes, 3D user interface, blockchain, gesture recognition and avatar interaction models.
For instance, Apple’s Vision Pro, which was released in 2024, aims to integrate the real and virtual world seamlessly. This means that by wearing the Vision Pro headset, one can see the world around and also icons, operations and functions as a display without borders on the real world. Various operations can be controlled by hand movements and gestures alone. This technology had 5000 patents filed, to delay competition and protect new functions and innovations. Similarly, Meta has filed several AR/VR patents. Gaming platforms such as Roblox are branching out into Metaverse. Decentraland, a Metaverse platform that facilitates the buying and selling of virtual land with cryptocurrency is also gaining popularity. However, Patents provide limited scope of covering the complex structure of the Metaverse, such as interoperability, user-creation and convergence of virtual and actual surroundings.
Criteria for Patentability
Globally, patent requirements can be summarised in the NUNS test. This is elaborated as;
N (Novelty): The invention must be new;
U (Utility): The invention must be useful;
N (Non-obviousness): The invention must not be apparent to a person skilled in the field the invention is made in;
S (Statutory Subject Matter): The invention must fulfil the criteria of subject matter that can be patented as per the patent laws of the country in which the invention is made
These criteria apply to the patentability of the Metaverse and its components as well. Based on the jurisdiction in which the patent is filed, either a process patent or a product patent can be granted.
The Problems for Patentability:
Apart from the standards set for determining the novelty of a product or a process, there are technical obstacles that Metaverse patent applications may face. For instance, the hardware patent space is overcrowded with many patents granted to AR/VR headsets. This makes it difficult for Metaverse companies to come up with novel ideas to access the virtual world.
On the other hand, patenting software algorithms and codes pose an obstacle to determining how novel such code is. For instance, if the code was built on an open-ended code (code already available in the public domain), the code ceases to be novel. Furthermore, the codes need to be changed with the rapidly evolving technological world, to enforce new updates or fix bugs. This makes patentability a tedious job as granting a patent takes a long time, by which the software could have undergone multiple changes, updates or fixes.
Another complexity that Metaverse technologies face is the non-obviousness criterion. For software that simulates the real world, it becomes an imitation of something already existing, making it obvious and not novel. The only factor that distinguishes a function of buying land in actuality and buying a piece of virtual land is the fact that in the second case, the land is virtual and the function is restricted to cyberspace.
User Creation in Platforms
There are many problems that the concrete advent and advancement of the Metaverse will bring forth. For instance, a Metaverse that has patented all components of its, hardware and software, including its avatar-interaction model will allow its users to create avatars. This whole function will be based on the patented framework of avatar interaction. In such a case, can users be considered owners of the avatars created and the functions such avatars perform or will the platform own it, inclusive of all actions undertaken by such avatars?
Even in cases of digital art created in a Metaverse or virtual shops that are opened in virtual reality using such patented technology, the question of ownership of copyrights, trademarks and the creation in itself will be debatable. Furthermore, the jurisdiction where such issues can be questioned will also be vague. In a virtual reality that aims to blur the borders between the physical and the cyber realm, distinguishing countries, nationalities and the laws applicable will be an impossible task.
A Possible Solution
While the scope of the Metaverse has not reached great heights yet, it is always good to be prepared for the worst-case scenarios. Even scenarios straight out of a science fiction movie. The possible solution to the aforementioned problems could be a body similar to the Metaverse Standards Forum. Founded by major tech giants such as Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, Epic Games, Adobe, Huawei, and others, it seeks to increase the cooperation of companies to facilitate the interoperability of Metaverses. This means, it seeks to provide a seamless way for users to switch between multiple virtual realities smoothly, without any hindrance and data being lost. While this body is purely a cooperative and a mere collaborative initiative undertaken by companies, the establishment of an international organ similar to the Metaverse Standards Forum to set legal standards, and rules and supervise Intellectual Property matters in or related to the Metaverse is feasible. A grievance redressal system regarding the issues arising in the Metaverse can be dealt with by this body and applications for patents, trademarks and copyrights can be dispensed by the body, by working in collaboration with the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) and each country’s Patents and Trademarks Office. As for the jurisdiction issue, it could be solved by giving primacy to the Nationality Principle, wherein the focus is on the user’s nationality and such country’s applicable laws over the Territoriality Principle, wherein focus is given to the place where the incident took. The creation of a Metaverse Competition Agency (MCA) with qualified members from across the globe with decisions and initiatives are derived from the consensus of the decentralized community within the Metaverse to quell competition can be realised as well.
As the Metaverse expands, the concept of another world within a world goes from abstract to as real as it can virtually get. The growing nature of this industry, advancements in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and patent applications indicate that from here, one can expect an exponential increase in inventions pertaining to the Metaverse. However, standards must evolve hand-in-hand with legal frameworks that balance proprietary interests with the rights of users and developers. The future of the metaverse will depend not just on technological breakthroughs, but on how equitably we govern its virtual architecture.
Authored by: Ms. Chinmayee Hegde
Blogger, The IP Press
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