The simplicity of Elon Musk’s renaming of Twitter might come back to haunt him after an ad agency filed a lawsuit against X for trademark infringement.
X Social Media LLC, a Florida firm that specializes in Facebook and Instagram advertising, has filed a lawsuit against X Corp., the company that owns the social media giant formerly known as Twitter.
The ad agency claims that Mr. Musk’s rebranding of Twitter to X confused their customers and cut into the company’s revenue.
“X Corp’s use of the ’X’ mark and recent attempt to register the mark in association with social media, business data, promotion and advertising, business consulting, market research services, and advertising services necessitates this action because its conduct has caused and will continue to cause serious irreparable harm to X Social Media,” the suit reads.
The ad agency, according to the suit, says it has used and held ownership of the trademark “X SOCIAL MEDIA” since 2016.
“It is highly probable this reverse confusion will continue to X Social Media’s financial detriment and to the detriment of the consumers who use and benefit from its services,” the suit continues.
The company also claims that X Corp. is violating the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act by using the trademark X logo in its advertising and rebranding campaigns.
The lawsuit may just be the first in a long legal battle over the fate of the X trademark. Several companies hold claims on the X mark and many of them voiced their concerns when Mr. Musk announced the rebranding effort earlier this year.
Microsoft, in connection with their Xbox gaming consoles, has held a trademark on the X mark since 2003. But possibly more importantly, X’s competitor Meta also holds a trademark for the X mark for one of their social media subsidiaries.
• Vaughn Cockayne can be reached at vcockayne@washingtontimes.com.
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