메타버스 내 상표침해책임에 관한 연구

As the ontact culture becomes more established, Metaverse also burgeoned, and with its growth, various legal issues in the real world transitioned into the Metaverse world. Metaverse is evolving into an ecosystem where multiple users work and connect, even trading goods and services. This phenomenon inevitably causes legal problems related to “trademarks” which function as indications of the source of goods or services. This paper deals with trademark use and infringement within the Metaverse world. Specifically, this paper argues that when a trademark is used for “virtual goods” in the Metaverse, it should be treated equally as if it was used for a “real world product”, and determines whether the trademark is used according to various types of uses in the Metaverse. This paper also argues that the platform manager of the Metaverse and the trademark infringer bear Joint Tort-feasors by applying mutatis mutandis the legal principle of secondary liability of the product sales broker in the open market to trademark infringement within the Metaverse world. This paper can aid the Intellectual Property Trial and Appeal Board or the court in legal judgment by analyzing the aspects of trademark infringement that are expected to occur in the future Metaverse world.