Social networking company Meta Platforms has been banned from using the name “Meta” in Brazil. The judgment was handed down by the São Paulo State Court of Justice on Wednesday (28th).
The ruling comes after a seven-month legal battle over trademark rights between the social networking company and Meta Serviços em Informatica, a digital transformation consulting firm founded in Brazil in 1990. be.
The Brazilian company applied for the trademark in 1996, and it was granted by the National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) in 2008, more than a decade before Mark Zuckerberg’s company changed its name from Facebook to Meta. Ta.
According to the ruling, social networking company Meta must comply with the decision within 30 days or pay a fine of 100,000 reais (approximately $20,173) per day. An appeal is still possible.
In their ruling, the judges emphasized that trademark registration for Brazilian companies has existed for more than a quarter of a century and that foreign companies must comply with local regulations if they want to do business in Brazil.
According to consultancy Meta, the fact that the social networking companies used the same name “caused confusion, losses, and unprecedented demands in various fields, including legal, administrative, technical, and reputational, and was likely to worsen over time.” “I did.”
Such effects include receiving numerous extrajudicial notices related to Facebook, Instagram, or WhatsApp, such as consumer complaints or official requests to block accounts.
Additionally, it noted that Brazilian companies have been incorrectly named as defendants in several lawsuits that should be directed against U.S. companies. Since the legal battle between the two companies began, the number of lawsuits misquoting Brazilian companies has increased from 27 to 143, according to consultancy Meta. This led to an unplanned expansion of the company’s legal team to deal with the lawsuit. is being received.
Metaplatforms did not respond to a request for comment at the time of publication.
While decisions of this nature are common, the Meta v. Meta case has important and educational implications, highlighting that the strategy of using a single global brand can face significant challenges. said Luis Marinello, an intellectual property law expert and founding partner. Brazilian law firm Marinello Advogados;
Marinello pointed out that international agreements such as the Madrid Protocol, to which Brazil is a signatory, facilitate the protection of certain trademarks in different countries. “However, the rights of local owners with undeniable priority rights must be preserved,” he added.
Marinello said he expected further discussions until a final decision is made, perhaps until an agreement is reached, but noted that the São Paulo Court of Justice has already issued a strong statement emphasizing the precedent rights of Brazilian companies. did. “This case is shaping up to be one of the most intense recent disputes over trademark use in Brazil,” he concluded.
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