Twitter’s rebranding to X wasn’t just confusing for users. The rebranding also sparked a lawsuit in the U.S. court over another company called X, based in Florida. And as little misfortune is silly, this X plaintiff also works in the social media business, managing online ads for other companies.
To help the reader, let’s differentiate between the two companies. X/Twitter will be called that, while we’ll refer to the other company as X LLC (limited liability company). The full corporate name of the company is X Social Media LLC.
X LLC, the plaintiff in the lawsuit in federal court, accuses X/Twitter of violating Florida law. In the document, the company states that the name change of Elon Musk’s company infringed on trademark rights and is generating unfair competition. X LLC also accuses X/Twitter of violating the Deceptive Practices and Unfair Trading Act, a law whose enforcement is linked to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
X LLC states that it has been known since 2016 as X Social Media and that this trademark is under its registration. The company says in the lawsuit that it has already suffered financial losses because of the confusion of names between the two companies.
Alexandra Roberts, a law professor interviewed by The Verge, explained that the process won’t be easy for X LLC. The reason is that there are many companies that use the “X” as a brand. Therefore, Elon Musk — and any other owner of a company that has the letter as a trademark — can sleep easy with this legal dispute.
