Joanna Fantozzi
You have seen the digital art renderings of monkeys sell thousands or even millions of dollars. You may have heard McDonald’s and PaneraAmong other major brands of hospitality and retail, depositing marks in the metavese. And recently, catering experiences based on NFT have refined in the lexicon of industry, NFT food rooms and exclusive Restaurants reserved for members to a brand, Chick’ncone authorizes investors To use NFT to buy franchise costs and brand fees.
But what exactly is the metavese? And are NFTs just a fashion, or should restaurant operators invest there as the “next great thing” for industry?
Nation’s Restaurant News spoke with Michael Kondoudis, a lawyer based in Washington, DC, specializing in federal brands and patents on the bases of NFTS, Crypto, the Metavese and why the catering industry should sit and be careful .
How would you describe the NFT from the point of view of a layman?
NFT represents a non -budgetary token. These are digital tokens. When something is fungible, it is easily replaced by something of the same quality or the same value. An non -bubble token is unique. And this technology was developed to protect the crypto – this is where this blockchain technology comes from. The blockchain protects you from the fact that someone enters and would copy a bitcoin and said: “Well, now I have two bitcoins”. The blockchain maintains it unique and non -bubble. (…) The NFT locks and ensure that the token is unique, so that the cryptographic asset, or sometimes even a real asset, belongs to a single person. This is what a NFT does.
How do NFT differ from cryptocurrency?
Cryptocurrency will be the main digital currency in the metavese. Whether it is Bitcoin or another crypto or the currency supported by the state remains to be seen. But in many ways, it is like a credit card transaction on steroids. This is what it will be. And so, once again, the NF T are protected against the blockchain against the copy of unique digital assets. This is where the linchpin is located between an NFTS, Crypto and the Metaverse – this is where everyone submits their brand requests.
Why are NFTs controversial?
They are controversial because they are not as respectful of the environment as people like to think. When you use the blockchain, we are talking about the race through these NFTs using the Blockchain technology to follow the single property: the code that goes with all these tokens. Someone must keep a trace of the property, then from the transfer from one person to another (and those who end up being extracted) from these enormous anonymous servers.
Can you explain what Metaverse is? And do you need a VR helmet to experience it?
Currently, Metaversse is motivated by the world of game: Unity, Roblox and all these open world game systems, which allow the most advertising and product placement. Many of them are currently played without virtual reality headsets. We are at a point where technology does not allow us to achieve what we can design as metovers, and even a VR helmet does not yet feel real.
(Currently), the experience is somewhat limited (it looks like a game). Facebook plans to use VR headsets and AR glasses to get a more “immersive” sensation and this happens in the near future.
So we haven’t really experienced the Metaverse?
The Metaversse will ultimately be a more pleasant, cleaner, brighter and more fun version of the matrix. (…) This is the goal. And that will ultimately happen: it could be five years, or it could be 10 years, but it will happen, because players want it, and everyone will come for the journey. So, for the moment, to approach an immersive online experience, you need a helmet.
Why should a restaurant operator worry about all of this?
The first reason they should care about is that the major famous brands are interested and even a small restaurant should ask themselves why McDonald’s was depositing brands for NFTS. (…) Even the famous brands have realized that their brands are not 100%protected, and they are exposed to a branded counterfeiting that they cannot stop (in the metavese). They try to remedy this weakness in the protection of their brand because technology has a little ahead of the law.
So, if a guy has the brilliant idea of entering the metavese and selling code which, when returned, gives the impression that your avatar has Nike shoes, she really contravenes the recording of brand that Nike holds? It’s code, not shoes. (…) So, what does Nike do? (…) They realized that the most profitable way to fill this gap in their protection was to file brand applications.
Is this McDonald’s doing?
McDonald’s adopted a similar approach, but it’s a little different because they are in the catering services. They know that the metavese (…) is a few years in the future, but they did not want a problem of brand counterfeiting, so they did it now. (…) The next reason they decided to do so, I believe, is a cross promotion. Their exhibition or imprint in the metavers will almost certainly occur in the real world.
There will be places where they can advertise in the metavese, and it will be as effective as advertising in the real world, perhaps even more, because it could be cheaper because everything is done digitally. (…) McDonald’s has also tabled brands for McDelivery and McCafe, which is open for several commercial services, including virtual concerts and online events where you pay with Crypto to obtain supported tickets by NFT.
They even applied for a virtual restaurant with home delivery. In other words, you can order your food in the metavese and they will deliver it to you in the real world.
What about restaurants with less brand recognition than McDonald’s?
The next reason for restaurants should be careful is income. All restaurants do not have enough recognition or cachet to be able to sell virtual products from brand (…), but virtual restaurants also serve as meeting places. A coffee could have a place in Metaversse where it could sell advertising for other companies, Coke could pay them to offer co-marked products in their NFT virtual restaurant. But the last one, and the one who really counts is, well, there are two reasons, two last reasons.
It will take time to understand it all, but it never hurts to dive a toe and start early, which all these big brands do.
The other thing they do is protect their brand from damage. Let’s say that someone other than Panda Express opens an express panda in the metavese and that he sells virtual food, and having the idea of having virtual fortune cookies with rated fortunes written on them ? How do you stop them? It is code, it would not be real.
Everyone wants to take a foothold in the metavers so that he has a chance to fight in case something happens.
How are the marks for NFTs in Métavevese work?
It takes at least 12 months to obtain a brand through the patent and brands office. In addition, these companies deposit these brands according to their intention to offer virtual services in the future. You can buy time extensions after your brand is authorized up to three years. Thus, these companies are four years old to start using their brand brand in Metaversse.
(…) My prediction is in the year, you will see almost all the major brands depositing for Metaverse protections. They don’t want to be left behind. The cost of a new brand demand is a few thousand dollars. (…) But if, paradise prohibits, you had to fight legal action or fight a procedure at the Patent Marques Bureau, you are talking about tens of thousands of dollars: it is an ounce of prevention against a healing book.
So, if I am a catering operator with a few places, will I want to create an NFT program?
I’m not even sure that NFTs are in their future. For most operations, you will want to have a metavese presence. You will want to offer virtual goods and services, or at least meetings and virtual order / online delivery. Without presence, it is very difficult to fight against even an innocent brand. (…) Let’s say that you have a competitor in your city which opens a similar restaurant named in a similar way. But now, what happens if this same thing happens in the metavese, how do you reach them? Where are they even located? (…) If you give (the Metaverse host) your brand recording number, and you say: “This other entity affects this brand”, they will intervene and stop it.
In addition, you will want a certain exposure, because it will be inexpensive because it is digital (…) and the exhibition in the metavese can clearly translate into traffic in the real world.
But if my restaurant already has virtual restaurants, why should I also have a presence in the metavese?
There will always be a need for real -world restaurants, but there are huge opportunities in metovers, such as cross -promotion and brand insurance. (…) Remember when businessmen didn’t want to have websites? And now, if you don’t have them, people are suspect. (…) Right now, the Metaverse is the Far West, but soon it will be settled, and it will be the logical place where you will want to advertise now like on Facebook or Google. (…) You must be advanced and realize that there is a reason why the competition does this.
Do you think restaurants will be more in the process of being part of the metavese rather than selling or exchanging NFT?
I see a lot of file file brands for NFTs and for exchanges and cryptocurrency markets, where you can transfer cryptocurrencies and NFT. And there is no way in the world they are going to do that.
Regarding restaurants, I do not think that restaurants will be negotiated in NFTS: I think their objective will be on virtual goods and services. (…) Sometimes, when I speak to a customer, explains, he wants to opt for the home run, but if you really push the limits, it is more difficult to obtain the registration of the brand. (..) McDonald’s therefore did not apply for NFTS.
Do not get bogged down in these cryptocurrency / NFT details: focus on virtual products and services. The opportunities for cross promotion through meeting spaces such as a virtual coffee maker are abundant.
