Meta Platforms successfully hit back on a trade mark lawsuit by a blockchain non-profit organisation known as Dfinity Foundation. Dfinity had accused Meta, which was formerly known as Facebook, for infringing its trade mark due to the use of the infinity symbol logo.
A San Francisco federal Court dismissed the case on the basis of finding Meta’s logo to unlikely cause consumer confusion with Dfinity’s logo as a result of the substantial differences in both designs and target audiences.
The US District Judge Charles Breyer permitted Dfinity to amend its lawsuit. Meta’s legal team has not yet responded to requests for comments on the ruling.
Background Information
Facebook rebranded as Meta in October of last year to portray its new focus on the virtual reality metaverse. Meta has described its new logo as a continuous loop that look likes the letter ‘M’ as well as an infinity symbol to signify the endless possibilities in the metaverse.
Dfinity is based in Switzerland and is an immense public blockchain network designed to accommodate smart contracts. Dfinity holds federal trade marks for two infinity symbols, one of which is a rainbow-coloured infinity symbol and the other with their name under an infinity symbol in no specific colour.
Lawsuit
Dfinity filed an opposition for trade mark infringement against Meta in May on the grounds that Meta’s logo was extremely similar to its own which resulted in consumer confusion. They also delineated that Meta outlined plans to integrate a blockchain system into its business which would increase the likelihood of consumer confusion.
The Judge explained that Dfinity had not shown it had really used its uncoloured logo in commerce. The rainbow logo was not similar enough to maintain the lawsuit. The shape of Meta’s logo is different from Dfinity’s regular infinity symbol and the colours are also obviously different. Additionally, the Judge noted that Dfinity’s users were mainly tech savvy.
Due to these reasons, the Judge dismissed the lawsuit in favour of Meta Inc.
By Zohaib Tahir, an LLM student at Solent University
