McDonald’s has already launched a few small NFT projects. One celebrated its Chinese anniversary and another celebrated the McRib. However, it seems as though the world’s largest fast food chain wants to take things a step further. 

McDonald’s Applies for Metaverse Patents

According to 10 different patents the company applied for, McDonald’s plans on offering a virtual restaurant in the metaverse. However, the deliveries that take place when you buy in the virtual world will happen in real life. 

The patents relate to the ability to deliver food online and in person, offer entertainment services, and sell non-fungible tokens, or NFTs. In the applications, the company said it wants to offer “virtual food and beverage products,”downloadable multimedia files containing artwork, text, audio, and video files and non-fungible tokens,” and more. The company also wants to offer online retail services featuring virtual goods. 

The patents were filed under the McDonald’s and McCafe brands, with the McCafe brand patents suggesting the company will go beyond food and beverage and offer online concerts. 

Why the Big Metaverse Plans?

The move could be massive for McDonald’s. Don’t forget, the metaverse is gaining significant popularity, even becoming a mainstream concept. The combination of virtual and physical products have the potential to be a big win in the virtual world, and McDonald’s isn’t missing out. 

The company doesn’t want to be left in the dust either. After all, several mainstream companies are exploring the metaverse with the goal of combining aspects of the real world with the virtual world and giving customers new ways to explore brands, attend concerts, play games, interact with friends, take part in meetings, and more, all of which can happen in your living room!

According to trademark attorney and founder of Gerben Perrott, Josh Gerben, this could be a massive win for the company. Here’s what he had to say:

“You are hanging out in the metaverse and get hungry. You don’t have to put down your headset. You walk into a McDonald’s and place an order. It arrives at your door a little while later.

When you see this critical mass of large companies making this many new trademark filings, it’s very clear this is coming. I think you’re going to see every brand that you can think of make these filings within the next 12 months. I don’t think anyone wants to be the next Blockbuster and just completely ignore a new technology that’s coming.”

The Bottom Line

The bottom line here is that more and more big brands are beginning to see value in the metaverse. As this trend continues, we’re likely to see not only more brands getting involved, but their followers as well, bringing the concept to the mainstream!