Social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, has been hit with a trademark lawsuit from a Florida-based marketing agency – X Social Media.
Elon Musk’s multi-billion pound business has been sued in a US federal court in Florida, where X Social Media is based. The small legal-marketing firm claims that X’s new name – in place since July – infringes upon its own trademark, which incorporates the letter ‘X’.
With X being a letter frequently used in branding across the tech world, this could be the first of many trademark lawsuits that look set to put a spanner in the works of Musk’s ambitious, if bizarre rebrand.
Subscribe to Marketing Beat for free
Sign up here to get the latest marketing news sent straight to your inbox each morning
X Social Media’s claim is centred around the potential for customer confusion caused by Twitter’s rebrand – having itself held the ‘X Social Media’ federal trademark since 2016.
The Windermere, Florida based company, also claims to have invested in excess of £330 million in Facebook advertising since it was founded in order to develop its customer base.
X Social Media asked the court to stop Musk’s outfit from using the ‘X’ name, before requesting an unspecified amount in damages. The marketing firm went on to add that the move had already caused customer confusion and had cost it revenue.
