IOI
Last week, Facebook announced that it will change its name to Meta. However, there is a chance that the adjustment will be difficult.
A corporation is pursuing the “Meta” trademark, and it was doing so long before Facebook announced its new identity.
Zach Shutt, the creator of Arizona-based firm Meta PC, told a website that the business registered for the “Meta” trademark in August. The registration is confirmed on the Patent and Trademark Office website, which claims that Meta PC began using the trademark for its goods in November 2020.
Meta PC is a retailer of PCs, hard discs, keyboards, and other electronic goods.
According to a filing with the Patents and Trademark Office, Facebook, then known as Meta, submitted a trademark application on the term on Oct. 28.
According to the Patent and Trademark Office, a federal trademark provides legal countrywide protection for a company’s brand and aids in the identification of its goods and services. However, this does not imply that a firm may legally claim ownership of a term and restrict others from using it.
For example, just because Facebook was given a trademark for Meta doesn’t imply it owns the term, and it can’t stop a firm outside of its sector from using it. Given their widely diverse industries, it’s uncertain whether a judge would decide that MetaPC and Facebook are in the same wheelhouse.
The files have not yet been authorised; they are still marked as “active,” implying that Meta PC does not yet possess the “Meta” trademark. Nonetheless, it filed its petition two months before Facebook revealed its makeover, implying that the digital behemoth might face legal action, even if it is in the form of patent trolling.
The eventual goal of Meta PC isn’t quite obvious. According to TMZ, Schutt and cofounder Joe Darger have stated that they are prepared to step down provided CEO Mark Zuckerberg gives them $20 million. Schutt, on the other hand, refused to acknowledge the amount or that it had made such a proposition.
On its Twitter account, Meta PC has been vociferous about Facebook’s relaunch, publishing memes and other gags in response to the name change. The business released a video of Schutt playfully announcing the change of MetaPC’s name to “Facebook.”
“With the Facebook news coming as a shock to us,” Schutt told a website, “we felt we’d have some fun with it on our social channels.”
Websites reached out to Meta, formerly known as Facebook, for comment, but the company did not immediately reply.
Meta has previously secured some internet rights to its brand, including the meta.com domain. However, the @meta Instagram username was already owned by a Denver-based motorcycle publication. As a result, the corporation decided to use the handle @wearemeta on the platform.
According to Jim Prior, CEO of brand firm Superunion, Facebook presumably invested significant financial and legal efforts in gaining the web rights to “Meta,” and the makeover might have an impact on smaller businesses who rely on the brand.
“There are many businesses already in the world with Meta somehow in their name who will be cursing the impact this move may have on them yet who will be powerless to do anything about that,” Prior said.
