Meta Platforms (“Meta”) and Metacapital Management (“Metacapital”) have reportedly resolved their trade mark dispute in respect of the former’s application to register ‘Meta’ trade marks following its rebrand from Facebook in 2021.
In a filing with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, the parties confirmed that they had agreed a settlement in principle and requested the Court stay the proceedings whilst the agreement is finalised.
Meta applied to register the ‘Meta’ marks in 2022 for financial services including investment management. Metacapital, a New York-based investment advising firm, sued Meta later that same year. Metacapital alleged that Meta’s name change would cause customer confusion and sought damages totalling over $60 million, the same amount paid by Meta to acquire the trade mark rights of Meta Financial Group, a regional bank.
Meta denied the allegations made against it in a filing last year, though it seems a resolution to the dispute is now on the horizon. The Meta trade marks, however, are also facing opposition from virtual-reality business MetaX and tech-services company Metabyte. Whether it will be able to resolve those disputes in turn remains to be seen.
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