What the Metaverse is and How IP Issues Come Up

Charley Macedo will provide a brief introduction as to what is "The Metaverse" in its various incarnations, to help guide the discussions in the full lecture. While everyone discusses "The Metaverse" in terms of "The" Metaverse, it comes in many different forms and visions. Industry leaders like Gemini, Facebook (now Meta), Microsoft and others have staked out their respective visions as to what The Metaverse is (and should be). In this preliminary stage, Charley will explain the following key topics.

Charley will then address the intellectual property law challenges associated with participating in the Metaverse (as well as not participating in the Metaverse). In this new virtual world, participants will be making, using, buying, and selling virtual versions of everything you might have in a real-world existence. This creates opportunities and challenges for participants and even non-participants.

Learning Objectives:

1. Discuss what "a" metaverse is, and traditional examples of where virtual space has been
2. Review the visions expressed for "their" Metaverse by Gemini, Facebook (now Meta), Microsoft and others
3. Offer key technical issues to consider when considering how Metaverse[s] are going to interact with our everyday existence
4. Consider how creators of virtual spaces and objects will interact with traditional trademark, copyright, and intellectual property rights for the spaces they create and use in virtual space
5. Determine how intellectual property owners in the real-world will need to consider how to protect their valuable trademark, copyright, and other intellectual property rights in these new virtual spaces
6. Review how new technologies and patents rights might be implicated in these new virtual spaces