Meta owns trademark for "X" used in social media apps ?

[Pluvious]

If true…

Link to tweet

Perhaps they can sell the “X” trademark to Musk in exchange for the Twitter trademark, so Threads can rebrand itself and become the new “Twitter.”

RT (re-xcreted?) :

It appears Instagram and FB owner Meta holds the trademark for "X" as it relates to "online social networking services... social networking services in the fields of entertainment, gaming and application development..." tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=87…

[Pluvious]

1. The doc...

Link to tweet

[dweller]

2. I read here earlier

Microsoft owns it since 2002 …




✌🏻

[zuul]

7. I heard that Microsoft owns it for gaming purposes.

Doesn’t really make sense to me, but that’s what I read.

[dweller]

8. That was it

For gaming


✌🏻

[Tree-Hugger]

10. XBox

XBox is owned by Microsoft.

[Ms. Toad]

9. It assigned it to facebook, which assigned it to Meta. n/t

[dweller]

11. It (X) goes back a ways

https://www.x.org/wiki/

😁




✌🏻

[Ms. Toad]

14. The specific X which is the subject of several articles

is this one: https://tmsearch.uspto.gov/ImageAgent/ImageAgentProxy?getImage=87980831

The application was filed (and first use alleged by Microsoft) in 2017. It was assigned to Facebook in 2020, and to Meta in 2021.

I don't find any marks registered to xorg, x.org, or x.org foundation. (Not disputing that it existed, simply that if they were using X as a trademark no one registered it.)

[Hermit-The-Prog]

17. Even if it was registered...

I don't think a trademark for a computer windowing display system and a trademark for a social media communications system would conflict with each other. Trademark is all about avoiding confusing consumers as to source, right?

[Ms. Toad]

18. The mark is registered to Meta

for social media:

Online social networking services; online social networking services, namely, facilitating social introductions or interactions among individuals; social networking services in the fields of entertainment, gaming and application development; providing information about social networking that involves online gaming, online video games and online video gaming applications; providing an Internet website portal for engaging in social networking; providing information, news, commentary in the field of social networking.

There is a lot more stuff there, most of which Musk seems to suggest he plans for X.con. But that's about as identical as you can get.

Microsoft filed the application on the basis of intent to use (in 2017), and the only specimen it provided in 2019 when it had to prove actual use, not just intent, was for Mixer - a gaming platform which includes social networking. The X in the middle of Mixer is what is registered.

(So the X which is a Microsoft>Facebook>Meta registered trademark is not for a computer windowing display system - it is for a social media platform. It is focused on gaming.) A possible defense is to prove that the goods and services claimed were described more broadly than were ever used - especially since it now seems to have been abandoned and never used by facebook/Meta. But that's not a clean defense.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

20. I was referring to x.org

Even if the X window system had trademarked some x mark, it would not be in conflict with the trademark Meta holds because they're in different fields.

[Ms. Toad]

21. If they had registered the trademark,

That mark sould have been considered during Meta's registration, and Meta's mark should not have been issued had it been in conflict with an existing registered trademark.

If not registered, the protection is much narrower (the geographic area in which it was actually used, as a source identifier for the goods/services for which it was actually used, from the date of first use) and harder to prove.

[FreeState]

19. Correct MacOS use to be called osX

And used a big X as well:

https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:OS_X_El_Capitan_logo.svg

(Theirs was assigned for operating systems).

[captain queeg]

3. You beat me to it. I just read this and was getting ready to post.

Also just saw the the Twitter name was being taken off the building (HQ building?) but of course Muskie didn’t get a permit for the equipment blocking traffic on the street so the SFPD shut it down.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

4. This makes me smile

Link to tweet

[progressoid]

5. It's not the big deal everyone wants it to be. DUer Ms. Toad explains:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100218115849#post48

[Bluethroughu]

6. Eloon should make an offer for truth anti-social?

It's fitting and worthless.

[James48]

12. I'm sure META would entertain purchase offers.

Anything over, oh, say, $44 billion might be an acceptable offer.


(Musk is dumber than I thought.)

[Sneederbunk]

13. Xfinity panicking.

[3Hotdogs]

15. How do ya trademark a letter of the alphabet? I wanna trademark the letter H and number 3

3H

[blogslug]

16. hmmm

I think the Meta "X" y'all are talking about applies to a platform that provides multi-player gaming, and VOIP/text chat.

So, maybe the meta "X" is not the same as elmo's "X"?