The company did a lot of bad things and has become radioactive because of it. The official line was that it wanted to reflect its bet on virtual reality and the metaverse when it changed its name to Meta. Meta doesn't want to be associated with Facebook's reputation.
Meta.is, a small company which claims to have been operating in the immersive andExperiential technology space since 2010, sued Facebook on Tuesday in New York federal court for allegedly violating the smaller business' trademark rights. In this article, we will refer to the smaller company as Meta.is and the larger company as Facebook.
The company is trying to stop Facebook from using the name "Meta". It claims that Facebook ripped off its business and lied about it. Meta.is states that it is no longer possible to do business using the name "Meta" because customers think its goods and services are from "toxic" Facebook.
According to Meta.is, Facebook ignored its federally registered trademarks, one of which it applied for in January 2016 and was granted in May 2020. The smaller company said that it would be impossible for Facebook to say that it didn't know about Meta.
The founder and CEO of Meta.is received a letter from a Facebook executive after attending one of the company's experiences. According to the lawsuit, the two companies worked together.
Meta.is claims that it contacted Facebook after it adopted the name "Meta" in October of 2021. Both companies offered vastly different goods and services according to Facebook. According to the lawsuit, Meta.is offers multi-sensory live experiences. It was just a social technology company.
Meta.is claims that Facebook is doing the same things it said it wouldn't do by creating the same experiences at the same events and venues. The smaller company claims that Facebook works with the same companies.
Meta.is stated in its lawsuit that it has been crushed by Facebook. Meta can no longer provide goods and services under the META mark because consumers are likely to wrongly think that Meta is associated with the toxicity that is inextricably linked with Facebook.
Gizmodo reached out to Facebook for comment on the lawsuit but did not hear back by the time of publication.
The allegations made by Meta.is do raise concerns, according to Rebecca Tushnet, a professor of intellectual property law at Harvard Law School. She said that Meta.is won't triumph over Facebook.
The reverse confusion theory is one of the arguments used by Meta. Customers believe that the goods and services offered by a newer player in the market are the real source of those services when they are actually offered by an older player. Tushnet disagrees with Meta.is that this is a classic case of reverse confusion.
To the extent that Meta is understood as shorthand for the metaverse, reverse confusion isn't usually available as a theory. If the first person to use Boston Taxis for a service offering taxis in Boston isn't able to stop others from using those words to sell the same thing, then they shouldn't be able to stop others from using those words. The theory is that the person is not well known.
Tushnet said that Meta.is doesn't make clear how many people are using the same thing. There would be less protection for any trademark in a crowded market.
Meta.is described itself as well-known in its industry in an attempt to poke a hole in its argument. If that is the case, then artists are less likely to be confused by the names.
It's not easy to predict what will happen in a lawsuit with complex issues.
If a judge believes that FB/ Meta is a bully preying on the weak, then a judge could issue an early ruling that would give the company a big incentive to settle.
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