The Court In Sao Paulo Orders Meta To Stop Using Company Names In 30 Days

Meta lost a lawsuit against Meta Servicos in Brazil. (photo: dock. meta)

JAKARTA - A court in Sao Paulo ordered Meta, the parent of Facebook, to stop using its name in Brazil within 30 days. This was decided after a local computer service provider of the same name filed a lawsuit saying his company had been harmed by a third party that confused the two companies.

The decision was taken on Wednesday, February 28, and was reported on Thursday evening 29 February by Brazilian newspaper Valor.

Meta, which also has Instagram and WhatsApp, has yet to provide a response to a request for comment. This decision could be appealed by technology company owned by Mark Zuckerberg.

Barureri-based Meta Servicos company, which registered its trademark in the late 2000s to Brazil's National Institute of Intellectual Property, said in the judicial process that since Zuckerberg's company changed its name in 2021, they were misinstalled in more than 100 lawsuits and had an Instagram profile disabled for allegedly claiming to be someone else.

The appeals court in Sao Paulo ruled that the US Meta must pay 100,000 reais (Rp. 317.2 million) per day if it fails to comply with the decision.

The company, formerly known as Facebook, changed its name in a rebranding focused on building a "metaverse," a shared virtual environment believed to be a replacement for the mobile internet.