Sobering idea – Irish Distillers file NFT patent for ‘virtual bars’

Want to take Dry January that little bit further in the years ahead?

ry sipping a virtual whiskey in a virtual bar.

Irish Distillers, which is owned by French drinks giant Pernod Ricard, has filed an application to the United States Patent and Trademark Office for metaverse and non-fungible token (NFT)-related trademarks for Jameson whiskey.

In the application, it claimed plans for virtual bars and drinks, virtual clothing and merchandise, stores selling virtual goods and NFTs, and online marketplaces for trading virtual goods and NFTs.

A spokeswoman  from Irish Distillers said: “Like many global brands with a curiosity in the growing popularity of the digital universe, in 2022 Irish Distillers began seeking registration of existing Jameson brand IP in new trademark classes to support its future endeavours.”

Drinks brands have been experimenting with virtual worlds, with Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg vowing that the metaverse is where we’ll all socialise in the future, albeit to much scepticism.

Pernod Ricard has said Maison Martell would become the first of France’s great cognac houses to enter The Sandbox metaverse, allowing visitors a virtual tour of the Martell Chateau.

Diageo’s Johnnie Walker and Captain Morgan hosted virtual happy hours at the world’s first NFT conference last year, and Diageo hosted a branded virtual bar at Decentraland’s Metaverse Fashion Week.

When Johnnie Walker released its first NFT collection with artist BossLogic at auction, it sold out within 10 minutes.

As well as using the metaverse as a marketing tool, brands also want to protect their NFT and metaverse intellectual property from fraudsters.