CVS files patents to sell goods and services in ‘online virtual worlds’
The New England Council member, CVS Health, has filed applications with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office seeking protections to sell a wide range of downloadable virtual goods. The application would also secure trademark protection for all the company’s logos, images, branding, clinics, services, programs, and media online and in online virtual worlds.
This patent would protect their downloadable virtual goods including merchandise created through “blockchain-based software technology,” “crypto-collectibles,” “online digital artwork,” and “non-fungible tokens,” also known more widely as NFTs. While CVS has not publicly laid out a strategy for its engagement with these online goods, the applications do offer some clues about how this new technology would be used by them, including setting up “an online non-downloadable platform for users to browse, create, modify and manipulate virtual retail consumer goods.”
The company would also seek to provide information and news on topics such as health and wellness and offer health care services “in virtual reality and augmented reality environments,” including non-emergency medical treatment, wellness and nutrition programs, personal assessments, personalized routines, maintenance schedules and counseling services. These offerings would likely serve as an extension, or reimagining, of CVS’ telehealth efforts, which have been forced to ramp up due to the COVID pandemic.
The New England Council would like to commend CVS for extending its telehealth options.
Read more in the Hartford Business Journal.