Elon Musk’s resolution to rebrand Twitter as X might be difficult legally: firms together with Meta and Microsoft have already got mental property rights to the identical letter.
X is so broadly used and cited in logos that it’s a candidate for authorized challenges – and the corporate previously generally known as Twitter might face its personal points defending its X model sooner or later.
“There’s a 100% chance that Twitter is going to get sued over this by somebody,” stated trademark lawyer Josh Gerben, who stated he counted almost 900 lively U.S. trademark registrations that already cowl the letter X in a variety of industries.
Musk renamed the social media community Twitter as X on Monday and unveiled a brand new emblem for the platform, a stylized black-and-white model of the letter.
Owners of logos – which shield issues like model names, logos and slogans that determine sources of products – can declare infringement if different branding would trigger client confusion. Remedies vary from financial damages to blocking use.
Microsoft since 2003 has owned an X trademark associated to communications about its Xbox online game system. Meta Platforms – whose Threads platform is a brand new Twitter rival – owns a federal trademark registered in 2019 protecting a blue-and-white letter “X” for fields together with software program and social media.
Meta and Microsoft doubtless wouldn’t sue except they really feel threatened that Twitter’s X encroaches on model fairness they constructed within the letter, Gerben stated.
Meta itself drew mental property challenges when it modified its title from Facebook. It faces trademark lawsuits filed final yr by funding agency Metacapital and virtual-reality firm MetaX, and settled one other over its new infinity-symbol emblem.
And if Musk succeeds in altering the title, others nonetheless might declare “X” for themselves.
“Given the difficulty in protecting a single letter, especially one as popular commercially as ‘X,’ Twitter’s protection is likely to be confined to very similar graphics to their X logo,” stated Douglas Masters, a trademark lawyer at legislation agency Loeb & Loeb.
“The logo does not have much distinctive about it, so the protection will be very narrow.”
Insider reported earlier that Meta had an X trademark, and lawyer Ed Timberlake tweeted Microsoft had one as effectively.
Source: www.dailysabah.com
