McDonald's And Panera Betting On Metaverse With Virtual Restaurants: Here Are The Details

Two large restaurant companies have filed trademarks for their respective names and brands inside the metaverse. The filings could be ways to protect their intellectual property from being used by others, or it could signal a further push into the metaverse. Here are the details.

McDonald's: Fast food giant McDonald’s Corp MCD filed trademarks for its McDonald’s and the McCafe brands according to trademark lawyer Josh Gerben of Gerben Law.

McDonald’s filing includes the potential for virtual food and beverage products, downloadable multimedia files including non-fungible tokens and hosting entertainment services online such as virtual concerts.

Perhaps the biggest portion of the filing from McDonald’s was this: “Operating a virtual restaurant featuring actual and virtual goods, operating a virtual restaurant online featuring home delivery.”

The trademark implies that someday you could visit a McDonald’s in the metaverse, order food and have it delivered to your door in real life.

The filings follow McDonald’s launch of the “McDonald’s Hall of Zodiacs,” a metaverse experience to celebrate the 2022 Lunar New Year.

Related Link: McDonald's Enters The Metaverse: What Investors Need To Know 

Panera Bread: Restaurant company Panera Bread, which is expected to go public in 2022 with the help of SPAC USHG Acquisition Corp HUGS, also filed trademarks related to the metaverse.

Panera filed for virtual restaurants and cafes under the new “Paneraverse” name. The filing includes offering downloadable virtual goods, NFTs and entertainment services in the metaverse.

The filing also states Panera could provide an “online virtual restaurant wherein users can earn reward points and virtual currency which may be used to purchase food and beverages.”

In the future, eating virtual food in the metaverse could reward Panera rewards members in real life.

Photo: OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay