Fidelity Investments and HSBC Bank have filed applications with the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for registration of trademarks related to NFT, metaverses and Web3.

As Mike Kondoudis, a licensed USPTO attorney, wrote on Twitter, Fidelity intends to offer a wide range of investment services in the virtual world. This includes working with mutual and pension funds, investment management, financial planning and investments in virtual real estate. Payment services that allow making payments and money transfers using the metaverse may also be in development. Fidelity Investments plans to introduce an electronic wallet for storing and processing virtual payments and transactions with digital tokens.

In addition, Fidelity Investments' application states that the company is going to conduct training sessions, consultations, seminars and conferences on finance, marketing and investment in the metaverse. Non-interchangeable tokens (NFT) are also included in Fidelity's plans, as the company is considering launching an online platform for buying and selling collectible tokens. However, Fidelity does not disclose detailed information about this platform.

Fidelity is not the only financial institution entering the metaverse space. HSBC Bank has also applied to the USPTO for registration of trademarks related to the exchange and transfer of NFT, as well as virtual credit cards. According to HSBC's application, the bank also plans to provide financial advice in the metaverse and create virtual environments in which customers can interact with the bank.

In October, Kondoudis reported that more than 6,000 applications for registration of trademarks related to NFT and blockchain were submitted to the agency this year. This figure is three times higher than the same figure for 2021.