Meta Platform Inc Sued By MetaX For Using Meta Trademark, Things Will Be Complicated!

Metra Platform Inc, was sued by MetaX for violating the Meta trademark. (photo; doc. pixabay)

JAKARTA - Facebook owner Meta Platforms Inc. is in the midst of a trademark lawsuit in Manhattan federal court on Tuesday from MetaX LLC, a company that creates immersive virtual reality experiences. Meta is being sued for allegedly stealing his name for his pivot to the metaverse.

New York-based MetaX told the court it had been "destroyed" by Facebook's rebranding and said its "ability to operate as Meta has been destroyed."

They also accused Meta Platform of infringing on the federal trademark "Meta", and sought a court order blocking social media companies from using the "Meta" brand for goods and services that overlapped with MetaX as well as an unspecified amount of damages.

Meta Platforms itself rebranded from the eponymous social networking platform in October 2021, and began betting that the metaverse, a shared virtual world, would replace the mobile internet.

MetaX founder Justin "JB" Bolognino said in a statement, quoted by Reuters, that Meta Platforms "is jeopardizing not only their business, but the entire industry and the intellectual property rights of the innovators who have helped build it."

Meta Platforms did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit.

MetaX specializes in “experiential and immersive technologies” using technologies such as VR and augmented reality. This is very similar to the technology that Meta Platform Inc has also developed.

The company said in its lawsuit that it discussed a potential partnership with Facebook in 2017, and that a Facebook executive had praised one of the MetaX experiences that year as "amazing" and "spectacular."

MetaX says that Meta Platform's new focus on the metaverse and related VR and augmented-reality technologies overlaps with its business and has begun providing similar "immersive experiences" in some of the same venues where it hosts its exhibitions, including Coachella and South by Southwest.

MetaX says the rebranding of Meta Platforms will push them out of the market, and that has led people to mistakenly believe the company is affiliated with Meta Platform Inc.