In recent years, fans have paid close attention to international trademark filings to have an early opportunity to look at what their favourite brands are planning on offering. We've seen that recently with international trademark filings for Marvel Studios movies that, at the time of filing, had not been announced yet.
Now, Formula One (F1) has recently filed trademarks for the 2023 Las Vegas Strip Circuit Grand Prix, which cited NFTs and cryptocurrencies in a variety of potential products being offered through trademark registrations.
The trademarks were registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office on 23 August 2022, and include the trademark and logo for the Las Vegas Strip Circuit as well as a number of specific nods to NFTs and blockchain-powered transactional facilities.
The trademarks show that any potential new NFTs would represent ownership of a wide variety of tangible items including vehicle equipment, decorative items, clothing, bags and wallets. We've seen a similar offering in the 2022 Australian Open, where NFTs were sold that represented a tangible piece of the playing court.
The trademarks also point towards:
downloadable computer software for managing cryptocurrency transactions using blockchain technology.
Another clause in the trademark described the facilities that were capable of covering cryptocurrency and blockchain-based payment systems:
Financial services including e-wallets and cryptocurrency; electronic transfer of crypto assets; currency exchange services; currency trading; virtual currency services; electronic funds transfer provided via blockchain technology; financial transactions via blockchain; cryptocurrency services, namely, providing a digital currency or digital token for use via a global computer network; provision of tokens; provision of non-fungible tokens.
This might be an indication that F1, as well as vendors participating in the Grand Prix, will be accepting cryptocurrency payments. Las Vegas is set to host its first F1 race in just under a year, and will become the third stop in the US for the F1 roadshow.