South Korean tech company LG Electronics has filed a patent application for its blockchain-based Smart TV that allows users to trade nonfungible tokens (NFTs).
The information was published on WIPO’s global database for intellectual property on May 11. According to WIPO’s documentation, a patent application is published 18 months after the filing date or the priority filing. Based on this timeline, LG’s application was submitted in November 2021. The next steps include substantive examination, followed by granting or refusing legal protection to the invention.
According to LG’s application, its technology allows devices to connect with a crypto wallet and an NFT market server to enable transactions. When connected to an NFT market server, the device incorporates onscreen QR codes that let users complete transactions via a cryptocurrency wallet.
A partial drawing of the proposed patent. Source: Wipo.
The application follows the release of LG’s own NFT platform last September – the LG Art Lab Marketplace is based on the Hedera network. It allows TVs running webOS 5.0 or later versions to trade digital artworks.
It’s unclear if the TV will integrate with different wallets or be restricted to LG’s Wallypto, the company’s smartphone crypto wallet, which is also available on its Art Lab Marketplace.
LG is onboarding a range of Web3 solutions on its devices. In January, the company disclosed a partnership with cloud-based technology platforms Oorbit and Pixelynx to bring the metaverse directly into viewers’ living rooms. At the time, Cointelegraph reported that the collaboration was designed to allow customers to explore interconnected virtual worlds, concerts and artificial intelligence multiplayer games through their LG TVs.
LG is not the only big tech company working to integrate Web3 into its products. Last year, its competitor Samsung announced a new smart TV lineup integrated with an NFT platform. The company is also actively investing in NFT and metaverse projects through its venture capital arm, Samsung Next.
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