July 20, 2022
MetaX LLC, based in New York, has sued Facebook’s parent company Meta for infringement of its federal “Meta” trademarks. MetaX stated that Meta Platforms’ new focus on the metaverse and related VR and augmented-reality technology overlaps with its business.
The company announced that it has begun providing similar “immersive experiences” in some of the same locations where it hosted its exhibits, including Coachella and South by Southwest.
In addition, MetaX said that renaming Meta Platforms will drive it out of the market, and it has already led people mistakenly to believe that the companies are affiliated.
MetaX is therefore seeking a court order to prohibit the social media company from using “Meta” for goods and services that overlap with that of MetaX. The company is also demanding an unspecified amount of money damages.
In a statement on the matter, MetaX founder Justin “JB” Bolognino said that Meta Platforms “has put not only our business in jeopardy, but that of the entire industry and the intellectual property rights of the innovators that have helped build it.”
MetaX specializes in “experiential and immersive technologies” that use technologies such as virtual reality and augmented reality.
The sources for this piece include an article in Reuters.
