Meta files 5 trademarks for ‘Meta Pay’ amid plans to launch digital currency exchange

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Meta Platforms Inc., the parent company of social media giants Facebook, Instagram, and Whatsapp, has been increasing its embrace of the blockchain industry. As recent trademark filings reveal, the company may be planning to launch a payment platform with support for digital currencies. 

In a May 13 filing with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), Meta requested five trademarks for the name “Meta Pay.” The description of the goods and services the trademark will cover notes that the name will be used in relation to a platform that offers: 

“Financial transaction processing services, namely, providing secure commercial transactions and payment options… Providing a financial exchange for the trading of digital currency, virtual currency, cryptocurrency, digital and blockchain assets, digitized assets, digital tokens, crypto tokens, and utility tokens.”

According to Josh Gerben, a trademark lawyer who first discovered the filing, the request indicates that the payment platform will support the exchange of both regular money and digital currencies. However, the USPTO may take up to eight months to review the filing. 

Meta Platforms Inc. (i.e. Facebook) has filed 5 new trademark applications for:

"META PAY"

The filings indicate that @Meta plans to launch a payment platform called "META PAY" for users to exchange old-fashioned regular money and cryptocurrencies.#Meta $FB#Metaverse pic.twitter.com/W2ObxgAWfl

— Josh Gerben (@JoshGerben) May 18, 2022

In a previous move, Meta also filed for eight trademarks that attest to the company’s growing interest in the digital currency industry. The filing related to its logo and its use in relation to Web 3 and digital currency-related hardware and software. 

Meta is already testing its Web 3 related projects 

Further solidifying its embrace of the digital currency industry, Meta has rolled-out testing of support for NFTs on Instagram recently. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, said the test is also coming to at least three of the company’s family of applications, including Facebook. 

According to a Business Insider report, Zuckerberg has made building the metaverse the top priority of all, which has become a frustration for some company employees. Several trademarks that are metaverse specific have been made by the company since its rebranding to Meta last year. 

Meta has not been the only company filing metaverse-related trademarks with the USPTO. Stokely-Van Camp, the owners of rights to the Gatorade energy drink trademark, also recently filed a request to trademark the logo for use in the metaverse. 

Other popular companies to file similar trademarks include McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, Nike, Walmart, and Sketchers. The U.S. Air Force has also not been left out in the filings. The filings reveal a growing recognition of the potential of the next iteration of the internet. 

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