[babyshake]

The term “metaverse” was first used in Neil Stevenson's 1982 novel Snow Crash. IANAL but it seems dubious to me that anyone besides Neil gets to claim dibs on the word "meta" as used in the context of VR.

[kej]

Trademarks are about protecting a mark used in commerce, not the first person to utter a word or phrase.

[tfigment]

1992 by the way. Seemed way to new when i read it in 90s to be 1982. Your point probably still stands.