Elon Musk's rebranding of Twitter as 'X' could land the him in legal trouble.
This rebranding exercise has the potential to invite lawsuits from IT giants such as Meta and Microsoft, who already possess intellectual property rights to the same letter.
Microsoft has held the 'X' trademark since 2003, primarily associated with communications related to its Xbox video-game system. Similarly, Meta, a rising rival to Twitter, holds a federal trademark registered in 2019, covering a blue-and-white letter 'X' in fields like software and social media.
Trademark attorney Josh Gerben told Reuters that Musk can face legal challenges ahead. He states that there are nearly 900 active U.S. trademark registrations covering the letter 'X' in various industries, making it highly likely that Twitter's transformation could infringe upon existing brand equity.
"There's a 100% chance that Twitter is going to get sued over this by somebody," Gerben told Reuters, indicating that potential legal battles could be on the horizon.
Experts explain that trademark owners have the right to claim infringement if a rebranding causes consumer confusion, and the remedies for such cases range from monetary damages to blocking the use of the contested mark.
Also Watch: Twitter is now 'X'; rebrand starts rolling out to users
Elon Musk renamed Twitter as 'X' on Monday. Accompanied by a fresh logo, the alphabet 'X' appeared as a stylized black-and-white version of the letter.