Nike Inc. is seeking to trademark its brand for various virtual goods in the US, including shoes and clothing, as digital products become more popular.

The Beaverton, Oregon-based sportswear giant filed four requests with the US Patent and Trademark Office on October 27 to protect its marks in categories including "downloadable virtual goods” and related services for retail stores and entertainment.

Digital items listed in the filings include headwear, eyewear, bags, backpacks and sports equipment. The applications are on an intent-to-use basis, and won’t be finalised until they’re in commercial use.

Clothes that don’t exist are worth big money in the Metaverse

Virtual goods including apparel are gaining more interest as consumers scoop up items like digital art and video-game skins - decorations like outfits and accessories for virtual characters - for popular titles including Fortnite and NBA 2K.

Brands have also been selling digital assets like nonfungible tokens, which are digital goods that are authenticated through blockchain technology.

A Dolce & Gabbana NFT collection fetched about US$5.7mil at auction in October.

A representative for Nike didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment outside normal business hours.

 - Bloomberg