At the beginning of 2022, the concept of metaversity has not decreased.
Some enterprises and investment institutions continue to run into the metacosm, and some first- and second-tier cities also invariably write the metacosm into the government work report or related documents to release the layout metacosm signal.
Recently, nandu reporter found through statistical analysis of the data of tianyancha that according to incomplete statistics, there are currently more than 874 enterprises with a registered capital of more than 10 million yuan in the country that are applying for the registration of relevant trademarks of meta-universe. Among them, there are 173 enterprises in Guangdong, which are "the first in number".
With the heat of all parties, recently, the official website of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission issued a warning to the capital market not to over-consume relevant elements in this field. In view of this, in the new year, how the metaversic field develops has attracted much attention.
Favorable policies have been introduced, and the five major areas are keen to lay out the metacosm
Metaverse, the name of this seemingly two-dimensional dimension, is frequently used by enterprises or institutions in 2021, so that this new creature will soon be "close to the people", and the people's livelihood commodities in many fields are rubbing the "meta-universe" heat.
Not only in terms of the market, but also in this area, the government has also released interest in this area.
According to statistics, at present, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and other provinces have clarified the development direction of the metacosm in the relevant industrial planning of the metacosm; Shanghai, Wuhan, Hefei and other cities have also written the metacosm in the 2022 government work report;
"Local governments believe that the meta-universe is an industrial opportunity, so they have supported the meta-universe industry through policy-level statements, which is a signal that local governments want to revitalize the meta-universe industry," said Pan Helin, member of the Information and Communications Economy Expert Committee of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and executive dean of the Digital Economy Research Institute of Zhongnan University of Economics and Law.
Compared with the government, the market is hotter.
Nandu reporter analyzed the sample of 874 enterprises that are applying for registration of meta-universe trademarks, according to geographical division, the number of enterprises in Guangdong Province, Beijing Municipality, Shanghai Municipality, Zhejiang Province and Jiangsu Province ranked in the top five, respectively, 173, 172, 100, 87 and 61; according to the industry division, scientific research and technology service industry, leasing and business service industry, software and information technology service industry, wholesale and retail industry and manufacturing industry and other five categories of enterprises are most keen to layout the meta-universe.
Geographical distribution of 874 companies applying for trademarks.
Industry distribution map of 874 companies applying for trademarks.
At the same time, of the 874 enterprises, a total of 225 companies have received financing, and 649 companies have no financing experience. Among them, the number of enterprises that obtained rounds of financing before series A or A was 38, accounting for 16.89%; the number of enterprises that obtained rounds of financing after series B or B was 19, accounting for 7.54%; the number of companies listed on IPO was 15, accounting for 6.88%; and the number of enterprises that had obtained strategic financing and equity financing was 70, accounting for 27.8%.
Metacosm is a basket, anything can be loaded?
Judging from the sample of enterprises analyzed, there are some enterprises that are applying for the registration of metaverse-related trademarks, the original intention is to protect trademarks, because the metacosmonic concept is still in its early stages, and it will not carry out related business for the time being. For example, BYD and Yixian E-commerce have publicly stated that the registration of meta-universe trademarks is mainly for the consideration of trademark protection, and there is no plan to carry out related business.
However, some insiders told Nandu reporters, "the meta-universe is a basket, anything can be loaded into it", although the development of the meta-universe is still unclear, but it does not prevent some companies from occupying the pit first, watching the development of the situation and then making a decision; at the same time, the bad behavior of malicious preemptive registration and hoarding of trademarks also forces some companies to register meta-universe trademarks related to the company to avoid the risk of intellectual property infringement.
According to statistics, among the 173 enterprises in Guangdong Province that applied for the registration of meta-universe trademarks, there are 20 listed enterprises from equipment manufacturing, automobiles, e-commerce, games, medicine and education. It is worth noting that among the 20 listed companies that are applying for the registration of meta-universe trademarks, 10 companies have clear plans or related layouts for meta-universes, and the remaining 10 have not yet clarified their business.
20 enterprises applying for trademarks in Guangdong.
Among the 10 listed companies that have clear plans or related layouts for meta-universes, 6 companies are involved in online game business, 2 companies are involved in exhibition hall design, 1 company is involved in equipment manufacturing, and 1 company is involved in the apparel industry.
The situation of 10 listed enterprises in Guangdong that have clear business and are applying for trademarks.
Independent analyst Zhang Shule believes that games are the entrance to the metaverse, which is also the best user drainage and incubation pool for each generation of popular platforms (PC, tablet, smart phone or Internet and mobile Internet), and is the novice village of the indigenous people of the original meta-universe. Therefore, taking down the game resources, coupled with their own technology accumulation, it is possible to survive when entering the unknown wilderness of the metaverse.
Therefore, online games that have a strong adaptability to the concept of metaversmic have naturally become the landing point of enterprises to grab the meta-universe.
In contrast, Tencent and NetEase, the two giants of the game industry, are more restrained, and have not directly launched "meta-universe games", but have continuously improved their ability to access meta-universes through investment. In addition, the VR and AR industries are also seen as the coverage area of this wave of dividends.
Two metaversities in the eyes of government and the market
On February 21 this year, the State Intellectual Property Office said that as of now, there are about 16,000 trademark applications related to "Metacosmos" and "METAVERSE" in the trademark database. In accordance with the Provisions of the Trademark Law and its relevant regulations, the State Intellectual Property Office shall examine the application for trademark registration related to "Metacosmos" and "METAVERSE" in accordance with the law.
The State Intellectual Property Office also pointed out in particular that it resolutely opposes and severely cracks down on malicious trademark registrations such as "rubbing hot spots" and not hoarding for the purpose of use. When applying for the registration of a trademark, relevant market entities shall comply with the relevant provisions of the Trademark Law, abide by the principle of good faith, and shall not harm the public interest or disrupt the order of trademark registration.
Pan and Lin believe that there is still a big difference between the metacosm in the current government's eyes and the metacosm in the eyes of investors.
In the eyes of the government, the metacosm is concentrated in hardware, such as VR/AR, such as the game entertainment industry, and there are also governments that want to change manufacturing through the metacosm. However, the meta-universe in the eyes of investors is still the game social field at this stage, mainly involving the development trend of the virtual world, such as blockchain, user participation, sharing and so on.
"The metacosmology of government departments is set more in the field of industrial Internet, focusing on bringing more development opportunities to traditional industry and agriculture", independent analyst Zhang Shule believes, for example, through the digital twin, which has been in practice, the industrial metacosm model has been formed, forming more breakthroughs in industrial and agricultural scenarios and forming industrial chains.
Judging from the capital market and industry information at the beginning of this year, the meta-universe is still hot. However, it remains to be seen which companies will eventually taste the officially recognized metaverse head soup.
Producer: Nandu Kechuang Studio
Written by: Nandu reporter Chen Peijun