Facebook Changes Name to Meta- An Avalanche of Trademark Wars?

Introduction

Recently, the founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg announced the change in name of ‘Facebook’ to that of ‘Meta’ citing; the former name only suited one product however, the company at present encompasses more than just a single product. It does not mean all the social media apps such as Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram will get a new name but only the parent company will undergo a rebranding. He wants to have a shift in the corporate and branding strategies and for it to be known as “Metaverse Universe” in the future.

The change in name resulted in a controversy as Arizona-based start-up Meta PC founder Zach Shutthad filed for the trademark of ‘Meta’ in the month of August 2021 with the USPTO. Meta PC sells stuff like computers, disk drives, and other allied items.

In October 2021, Facebook also filed for the trademark of the same name. It is also interesting to note that a non-profit organization owned by Chan Zuckerberg, had gained the trademark registration for the name ‘META’. They have, however, assigned the name to Facebook. 

The Ensuing Tussle

Though the registration of the trademark name is pending, a legal tussle between both Facebook and Meta PC is most likely to ensue. Now, speaking from the legal perspective, it does not mean that a particular word can be completely owned by a single person or that it can not be used by someone in a different industry. However, it will be interesting to see how the battle between both the companies will turn around. 

A change in name at this juncture is likely to result in certain hurdles. For instance, Facebook could not change its Instagram handle to @meta, as already a motorbike magazine uses the name. Thereby, it had to change it to @wearameta. 

Now there are also certain news reports circulating that the founders of Meta PC are willing to sell their domain name for 20 million dollars, but the veracity of it is not yet confirmed. On the other hand, the rebranding of Facebook into meta was considered by many as rushed or an initiative to distance itself from the ongoing legal, regulatory, and other challenges that the company is facing.

As such, the logo also called out for certain criticisms. The usage of the logo has two meanings as pointed out by the design team of Meta. On one hand, it represents the word ‘M’ as in Meta and on the other hand, it represents the infinite horizons of the metaverse. According to Bill Gardener, who publishes the annual logo design trend report, the logo has been used several times earlier, and that a single line in a continuous loop was pretty much trending in the year 2008.

The Learnings

Whether a conglomerate or a small entity, one should always conduct proper research and understand thoroughly the need for such a rebranding and must keep in mind some of the following necessities:-

• It is necessary to understand, why such rebranding is necessary and the value that will be brought to the company needs to be properly assessed.
• It is also necessary to get all the possible IP protections. Only having a trademark, sometimes won’t be sufficient. Control over domain names, social media names, logos, and other aspects are equally important. 
• If one wishes to file a commonly used name, then it may cause certain hurdles in acquiring trademark protection. For instance, there are around 600 active applications at the United States Patent and Trademark offices for the names which use the term meta [https://www.vklaw.com/ImagineThatIPLawBlog/facebook-unfriends-its-own-brand-with-the-launch-of]. Therefore, it becomes necessary to obtain the trademark at the earliest in the domestic and international levels after thorough research. 
• Maintaining a strategy to have the benefit of the prior user is also beneficial. Otherwise, it might happen that one had to lose the mark to a competitor because it was abandoned by the former owner. 

Conclusion

To sum up, from time to time we have come across several brands which went through a rebranding mainly for reasons such as dissociating from bad public image or to show that the company has evolved into something much more than what it was earlier. In the same line, Meta replaced Facebook. Though it is met with certain controversies and hurdles, it would be interesting to see how the IP registration of it will proceed. 

Keep watching this space for more updates on this topic.

Ritika Reddy, Senior Associate , Trademarks and Copyright