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Elon Musk’s decision to rename Twitter as X could lead to legal complexities as several companies, including Meta and Microsoft, already own intellectual property rights to the letter X. This broad usage of the letter in trademarks makes it susceptible to potential legal challenges, putting the newly rebranded Twitter at risk of facing infringement claims.
Trademark attorney Josh Gerben revealed that there are nearly 900 active U.S. trademark registrations covering the letter X in various industries. Given this extensive existing use, Gerben predicts that there’s a high likelihood of Twitter getting sued over the rebranding.
Microsoft, since 2003, has owned an X trademark related to its Xbox video-game system’s communications. Meta Platforms, the company behind Threads, a Twitter rival, secured a federal trademark in 2019 for a blue-and-white letter “X” encompassing software and social media.
While Meta and Microsoft may not initiate lawsuits unless they perceive a threat to their brand equity from Twitter’s X, the situation could still be legally complicated. The companies in question did not respond to comment requests.
Meta previously faced intellectual property challenges when it changed its name from Facebook, with trademark lawsuits from Metacapital and MetaX, as well as a dispute over its new infinity-symbol logo.
Should Musk’s rebranding efforts succeed, other entities may also claim rights to the letter ‘X’. However, the protection for Twitter’s X logo could be narrow due to the difficulty in safeguarding a single letter, especially one as widely used commercially as ‘X’.
Trademark attorney Douglas Masters suggested that Twitter’s protection might be limited to very similar graphics to their X logo, as the current design lacks distinctiveness.
In summary, Twitter’s rebranding to X has potentially significant legal implications, considering the pre-existing trademarks held by other companies for the same letter. As the situation unfolds, the social media platform may need to navigate trademark challenges and defend its X brand in the future.
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