Meta was sued by another company that has also been called Meta since before.

The change of name from Facebook to Meta, carried out in October of last year, brought with it a trademark conflict that was recently made public.

A company that has been called Meta for more than a decade sued Zuckerberg’s company for the use of its trademark, after eight months of unsuccessful attempts at negotiation.

Meta versus Meta: Company claims Facebook for its new name

Meta.is is a pioneer in the immersive and experiential technology industry, founded in 2010. This small company has had a significant historical and current involvement in the creation and development of virtual and real-world social communities associated with the industry, as well as in the fight for the intellectual property rights, attribution and financial interests of creators. Some of the experiences developed by these companies have been seen at major events around the world, such as SXSW, Coachella and Cannes Lions.

The conflict between the presented company and the one previously known as Facebook, was revealed by the same authors of the claim on their website, also announcing that this situation led to a lawsuit, affirming that they have extensive rights over the registered trademark Meta, the which would be being “intentionally and blatantly” violated by the technology giant led by Mark Zuckerberg from the end of 2021.

“On October 28, 2021, Facebook took over our brand and name META, in which we put our blood, sweat and tears for more than twelve years”, reads the website of the plaintiff company. “Today, after eight months of trying to negotiate with Facebook in good faith without success, we were left with no choice but to file a lawsuit against them.”they add.

Much of the case is based on the many privacy scandals associated with the Facebook brand, which for Meta.is involve a devaluation of its very name. “Meta can no longer provide goods and services under the META brand”argues the demand, “because consumers are likely to mistakenly believe that Meta goods and services emanate from Facebook and that Meta is associated with toxicity that is inextricably linked to Facebook”.

Dyan Finguerra-DuCharme, a lawyer for the plaintiff company, emphasized the damage that Facebook’s action implied for the business it represents. “Facebook has deployed its almost unlimited resources to saturate the market with its offending META brand. This is textbook reverse confusion, which has caused, and is likely to continue to cause, significant and irreparable damage to META. Facebook cannot be allowed to continue its infringing conduct with impunity.” said the lawyer.

The lawsuit, filed in United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, is not the only one facing the company formerly known as Facebook for the use of its new brand. For the moment, Meta (Facebook) has declined to issue statements to the press in this case.