Meta Faces Trademark Lawsuit by New York-Based VR Firm MetaX: Details

Facebook proprietor Meta Platforms Inc was hit with a trademark lawsuit in Manhattan federal courtroom on Tuesday by MetaX LLC, an organization that creates immersive virtual-reality experiences, for allegedly stealing its identify for its pivot to the metaverse.

New York-based MetaX told the courtroom it had been “crushed” by Facebook’s rebrand and mentioned its “ability to operate as Meta has been eviscerated.”

It accused Meta Platforms of infringing its federal “Meta” emblems, and requested a courtroom order that blocks the social media firm from utilizing “Meta” for items and providers that overlap with MetaX’s in addition to an unspecified sum of money damages.

Meta Platforms rebranded from its eponymous social networking platform in October 2021, betting that the metaverse, a shared digital realm, will succeed cellular web.

MetaX’s founder, Justin “JB” Bolognino, mentioned in an announcement that Meta Platforms had “not only put our business in jeopardy, but that of the entire industry and the intellectual property rights of the innovators that have helped build it.”

Meta Platforms didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.

MetaX specialises in “experiential and immersive technologies” utilizing applied sciences like VR and augmented actuality.

The firm mentioned within the lawsuit it had mentioned a possible partnership with Facebook in 2017, and {that a} Facebook government had praised considered one of MetaX’s experiences that 12 months as “amazing” and “spectacular.”

MetaX mentioned Meta Platforms’ new deal with the metaverse and associated VR and augmented-reality know-how overlaps with its enterprise and that it has began offering comparable “immersive experiences” at a few of the identical locations the place it hosted its displays, together with Coachella and South by Southwest.

MetaX mentioned Meta Platforms’ rebrand will drive it out of {the marketplace}, and that it has already brought about folks to mistakenly consider the businesses are affiliated.

© Thomson Reuters 2022