When Elon Musk announced the rebranding of Twitter as X, he hailed it as the beginning of the app’s transformation into the “everything app.”
But Musk’s idea for the renaming begged a lot of similarity to another company that already existed, X Social Media. The company said Musk was aware of its existence and is now suing the X Corporation.
X Social Media offers advertising and social media services to connect people with law firms and advocates, according to the company’s lawsuit. The Florida-based company says the “X” mark is “successfully associated” with its services.
“Upon information and belief, Twitter knew of X Social Media’s preexisting rights prior to launching its media campaign,” the lawsuit states. The media coverage Musk’s rebrand received caused “reverse confusion and led consumers to believe that X Social Media’s advertising services are being offered by or are associated with X Corp.”
Twitter’s rebranding has led to financial losses for X Social Media, the company told the court, which it believes will continue unless a change is made. The plaintiff said it sent Musk’s company a cease-and-desist letter in August 2023 to get it to stop using the letter, to no avail. “X Corp. declined to cease use of the mark and continued to disregard the rights of X Social Media.”
The plaintiff is asking for an injunction to get Musk and his company to stop using “X” to market, sell, or distribute services. The company is also seeking financial compensation that’s three times the amount of the damages they ensued, or three times the defendant’s profits.
Source: U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida Via: Reuters
