Popular metaverse gaming platform The Sandbox (SAND) has partnered with the Korean subsidiary of French automotive-industry giant Renault.

The Sandbox, which is owned by major crypto-gaming incubator and investor Animoca Brands, confirmed the news in a blog post this week, detailing a collaboration that will enable Sandbox users to experience Renault vehicles in a virtual way.

Presumably blocky, pixel-tastic Renault vehicles, based on The Sandbox’s aesthetic – although the exact nature of the vehicular experiences hasn’t been shared just yet.

“This partnership is an excellent example of a collaboration,” tautologised The Sandbox Koreas’s CEO Cindy Lee.

Lee continued with: “The Sandbox can develop without any industrial boundaries. We are able to introduce new types of experiences that combine automobiles and digital assets in The Sandbox.”

That’s a Sandbox version of Lee in the main image on this article, by the way, standing next to a blockified Renault Korea Motors CEO, Stephane Deblaise.

Renault now joins a growing list of companies, brands and various individual entities making their presence felt within the Sandbox digital realm. Among several others, these include rapper Snoop Dogg, Aussie medicinal cannabis firm Creso Pharma; Elvis Presely; Tony Hawk; HSBC and Playboy.

 

Trademark applications for crypto and metaverse surge in 2022

If you thought this whole metaverse thing must be nothing more than a passing fad, we wouldn’t blame you. It’s a fairly nebulous concept on its surface. We’ve written about it numerous times within Stockhead and Coinhead, if you wish to explore the topic further.

However, a new set of data and research compiled by US intellectual property lawyer Mike Kondoudis this week very  much indicates that at least trademark-application interest in not only the metaverse, but also crypto and NFTs has been on a bit of a tear this year.

Overall, the stats are significantly higher compared with trademark applications created in the same categories in 2021 – a bull-market year for crypto prices.

 

As you can see from Kondoudis’ charts, the applications slowed in July and August, but overall, they still present an encouraging set of data for the market-cap-shrinking crypto industry this year.

Some of the major firms to have made crypto/blockchain-related trademark applications with the United States Patent and Trademark Office this year include the New York Stock Exchange, Meta, Formula One, Mastercard, McDonald’s, Gatorade, Team Ameri… er, we mean the US Space Force, and, most recently, luxury goods brand Hermès.