Asian Tech Press (Feb 14) -- Chinese car companies are scrambling to file for registration of metaverse-related trademarks, preparing in advance for their entry into the metaverse industry.

Although the previous exceptionally hot metaverse concept has recently met a Waterloo, as the share price of Facebook owner Meta has dropped 35.15% YTD, this has not affected the attention of Chinese companies to the "metaverse".

It is Shenzhen-based automaker BYD Co Ltd (BYDDF: OTC US), another leading Chinese company that has applied for a trademark related to metaverse.

The Chinese automaker BYD recently applied for registration of the trademark "BYD Metaverse", the international classification of which is means of transportation, and the current status of the trademark is under application.

Statistics show that by the end of last year, more than 13,000 trademarks with "metaverse" in their names had been filed for registration in China, and the number is likely to reach a new high this year.

In the automotive industry, in addition to BYD, many Chinese car companies, including Nio, Li Auto, XPeng, SAIC and others, have applied for their own "metaverse" trademarks, preparing in advance to enter the emerging sector.

BYD rival Great Wall Motors (GWM) has also been applying for the registration of the trademark "Great Wall Metaverse", the international classification of which is related to education and entertainment.

However, several applications for registration of metaverse-related trademarks, filed by electric vehicle (EV) maker Li Auto in September 2021, have recently been rejected.

Chinese state-owned automobile manufacturer Chang'an Automobile has gone one step further by formally unveiling in late December last year its first digital employee "Gong", who will meet anyone in the metaverse in the future.