Alicante judge determines copyright in Metavessel

Spanish justice has stepped in to regulate trademark copyrights in the meta-universe - the virtual three-dimensional internet.

Specifically, the No. 1 Commercial Court in Alicante, one of the European Union's first instance trademark courts, has established preliminary measures against several companies to stop using certain marks already used by another developer.

The EU Trademark Court, located in Alicante, has the exclusive right to hear civil actions concerning the protection of EU trademarks and national and international registered trademarks.

In this case, Spanish company Uttopion S.L., one of the most prominent developers of metasurface platforms in Spain, based in Madrid, has requested preliminary measures against two Spanish companies, Global Polgar and Egonft S.L. - both based in Alcobendas (Madrid) - and Egonf Inc. based in Delaware (USA), and under a previous agreement because they used the same or similar marks that were already registered.

According to the injunction published on July 13, to which EL PERIÓDICO DE ESPAÑA has accessed, the court granted the motion of Uttopion, with its seat in Madrid, and ordered it to stop using the marks "Utopia," "Utopia Avatars" and "Utopian" throughout the European Union, and to immediately remove the NFT Utopia Avatars collection. It was also ordered that the page should not be made available in the European Union.

In context, the decision emphasizes that the meta-universe is in a stage of "development and evolution," so the word itself "can have different meanings," from "a three-dimensional virtual world" to "the multi-dimensional use and application of the internet using web-2.0 rather than web-3.0 technologies." As such, its "competitive holistic perspective" already presents in itself a "challenge" for courts protecting intellectual property.

The injunction notes that Uttopion S.L., established on April 21, 2020, is the owner of the European Union trademarks "Uttopion" and "Uttopian" with different registration dates in 2022, and therefore considers that there has been infringement by the claiming companies in the use of the terms "Utopia", "Utopia Avatars" and "Utopian".

In the story, the judge notes that the Uttopion meta universe includes two cities or quality communities, and one of them, 'Musichood', has already hosted more than 200 events, including Mad Cool Talent by Vibra Mahou with more than 8,000 users or Festival Oro Viejo with 4,700 simultaneously connected people.

With regard to Uttopian, it is pointed out that although the registration is very recent, it presumably identifies users of the Uttopion meta-universe. The court notes that the defendant, also with widely recognized expertise in the industry and having used the mark "Utopia" and the symbol "Utopia Voyagers" or "Utopia Avatars" and created a website, has previously corrected some of the claims made after claiming its competence and has registered other marks.

The judge nevertheless emphasizes that "it is important to enforce and safeguard trademark rights" given the competition that may exist in the current phase of the meta-universe, with "the free creation and development of new markets." The ruling, which is appealable, holds that the terms "Utopia" and "Utopian" are "visually, aurally, and conceptually very similar" to the previously registered mark "Uttopian," so the marks used by the defendant may "impair the function of the plaintiff trademarks" because they may cause "confusion to the average consumer." Therefore, the court grants plaintiff's claim even though "some of the allegedly infringing uses appear to have been discontinued" because "mere risk must be eliminated, so it must be fully satisfied, especially when it is apparent that the defendant party has not ceased using the mark it refused to register. "