The Business of Fashion
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Nike Inc. is seeking to trademark its brand for various virtual goods in the US, including shoes and clothing, as digital products become more popular.
The Beaverton, Oregon-based sportswear giant filed four requests with the US Patent and Trademark Office on October 27 to protect its marks in categories including “downloadable virtual goods” and related services for retail stores and entertainment.
Digital items listed in the filings include headwear, eyewear, bags, backpacks and sports equipment. The applications are on an intent-to-use basis, and won’t be finalised until they’re in commercial use.
Clothes That Don’t Exist Are Worth Big Money in the Metaverse
ADVERTISEMENT
Virtual goods including apparel are gaining more interest as consumers scoop up items like digital art and video-game skins — decorations like outfits and accessories for virtual characters — for popular titles including Fortnite and NBA 2K.
Brands have also been selling digital assets like non-fungible tokens, which are digital goods that are authenticated through blockchain technology. A Dolce & Gabbana NFT collection fetched about $5.7 million at auction in October.
A representative for Nike didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment outside normal business hours.
By Kim Bhasin
Learn more:
Why Streetwear and NFTs Are a Perfect Match
Both trade in heavily hyped, limited-edition products that offer a sense of community. Fashion brands aiming to tap digital art take note.
The nature of livestream transactions makes it hard to identify and weed out counterfeits and fakes despite growth of new technologies aimed at detecting infringement.
The extraordinary expectations placed on the technology have set it up for the inevitable comedown. But that’s when the real work of seeing whether it can be truly transformative begins.
Successful social media acquisitions require keeping both talent and technology in place. Neither is likely to happen in a deal for the Chinese app, writes Dave Lee.
TikTok’s first time sponsoring the glitzy event comes just as the US effectively deemed the company a national security threat under its current ownership, raising complications for Condé Nast and the gala’s other organisers.