Steph Curry, an NBA player, files a trademark for the "Curryverse," which enables fans to receive free NFTs.

Basketball player Stephen Curry recently submitted a trademark application for the term "Curryverse" to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, which could signal the entry of another prominent athlete into the world of digital assets.

Curry, the point guard for the NBA's Golden State Warriors, gave his attorneys instructions to file a trademark application that includes a variety of digital goods and services to be offered through the metaverse. SportsTiger.com, a news website covering the sports sector, quoted attorney Josh Gerben of Gerben Intellectual Property.

A professional basketball player, philanthropist, businessperson, entertainer, actor, and producer will make personal, virtual, and metaversal appearances as part of the services offered, according to a patent application filed on October 26. Players will also be able to play online games to earn non-fungible tokens, digital tokens, or application tokens. The document lists "online games where players can earn non-fungible, digital tokens, or application tokens for exchange, trade, sale, or purchase in an online marketplace" as additional entertainment services to be offered.

The application's status is "Live/Pending" as of November 1, according to information from the IP portal of the World Intellectual Property Organization.

The item states that "new applications will be allocated to examining attorneys roughly three months from filing date."

The most recent development occurs when more athletes and leagues enter the NFT market and metaverse in an effort to find new money streams. A relationship between the Premier League and the NFT fantasy soccer game Sorare, among others, is apparently about to be established and might be worth as much as £30 million ($34.6 million) annually. The Premier League is the top division of professional soccer in England.

The 20 Premier League clubs will make it possible for their supporters to purchase NFTs with digitized images of notable athletes, including Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester United, Harry Kane of Tottenham Hotspur, and Erling Haaland of Manchester City, among others.

The NBA, Curry's league, has benefited from the increase in NFTs with sports themes. NBA Top Shot is a virtual trading card platform created on the FLOW blockchain, fully licensed by the NBA Players Association, and built by Dapper Labs, the business behind CryptoKitties. The "Moments" in NBA Top Shot NFTs are brief videos that highlight noteworthy dunks, three-pointers, and other thrilling game moments. NBA Top Shot reportedly has a market valuation of more than $1.1 billion in March 2022.