Meta trademark of ‘X’ logo may pose legal issues for Twitter, Musk amid company rebranding - Total News (2024)

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Meta trademark of ‘X’ logo may pose legal issues for Twitter, Musk amid company rebranding - Total News? ›

Twitter's new 'X' logo may pose a legal issue for the tech company in the future, as online records reveal that Meta trademarked an 'X' logo years ago. A record from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office shows that Meta applied to trademark their own 'X' logo on May 25, 2017.

Meta's trademark for a white-and-blue X relates to "social networking services in the fields of entertainment, gaming and application development." Microsoft's trademark relates to its Xbox gaming consoles. A legal battle over the intellectual property rights to X may be inevitable.

Microsoft since 2003 has owned an X trademark related to communications about its Xbox video-game system. Meta Platforms - whose Threads platform is a new Twitter rival - owns a federal trademark registered in 2019 covering a blue-and-white letter "X" for fields including software and social media.

Trademarks are granted or refused based on their ability to identify the source of the associated goods or services. This means X can function as a trademark if it clearly identifies Twitter in the minds of the public (provided another Twitter-like service doesn't currently hold the trademark).

"Microsoft owns a trademark for X," tweeted Andres Guadamuz, a faculty member in intellectual property law at the Unversity of Sussex.

"It's just X, the letter X," he said on the Joe Rogan Experience recently, explaining how to pronounce his son X Æ A-XII's name. Musk regained ownership of X.com six years ago. He formally changed Twitter's legal name to X Corp in April.

In October 2021, Facebook announced that it would be rebranding its parent company to Meta, separating the parent company from the social platform, which would retain the Facebook name.. This move coincided with founder, Mark Zuckerberg's vision of the next digital frontier, which he called the metaverse.

One year after Musk purchased the platform, X's worth dropped from its $44 billion price tag to less than half of that. Reports in late 2023 put X's valuation at $19 billion, indicating that Musk's supposed 79% stake in the social media platform was by then worth only $15 billion.

Elon Musk recently explained why he decided to rebrand Twitter to X and noted that it's more than just a name change. Instead, it represents his plans to create an “everything app.” “Twitter was acquired by X Corp both to ensure freedom of speech and as an accelerant for X, the everything app.

Why is Twitter's logo changing? Twitter's abrupt rebrand stems partly from Musk's fondness for the letter X, which has popped up throughout his career. It is also closely linked to his attempt to turn the news-led social network into a super app that offers everything from payments to TikTok-style videos.

Is Twitter legally X? ›

Even though Twitter has replaced the bird logo with an X logo, Twitter still owns the trademark for the bird logo. This means that Twitter has the exclusive right to use the bird logo in commerce. How can I use Twitter bird logo?

The scuffed-up icon, which was previously available to “X Premium” subscribers, works as a metaphor for his dinged and damaged platform. Perhaps even better than Musk realizes. Like all things New Twitter (or “X,” if you prefer), the app icon was probably executed without much (or any) thought.

One of the most glaring issues with Twitter's rebranding is the loss of brand recognition. For over a decade, "Twitter" has become synonymous with microblogging and rapid communication. This name change not only confuses existing users but also creates a disconnect between the platform's past and its present.

Key Points. X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, was taken private by Elon Musk in 2022. While Musk controls X, he doesn't own 100% of the business.

This may be due to the reality of rapidly advancing technologies — where X was once seen as signaling the future, that future is now. Or maybe Marvel Comics' X-men became so popular they essentially usurped the science fiction category for themselves. The evolution of x in brand names is not over.

Prior to Twitter's rebranding, Meta Platforms and Microsoft had already secured trademark rights to the letter “X” in specific contexts, including software, social media, and communications related to Xbox.

"The X-Files", "Millennium", "The Lone Gunmen" and related names are registered trademarks of 20th Century Fox.

Key Points. X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, was taken private by Elon Musk in 2022. While Musk controls X, he doesn't own 100% of the business.

Second, it is Meta's company name so it's 99.9999% trademarked in the “software” department so there is a good chance that they are in the right.

X-WING Trademark of LUCASFILM ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY LTD. LLC - Registration Number 1888621 - Serial Number 74517092 :: Justia Trademarks.