The developer of the Internet Computer Protocol ICP, Dfinity Foundation, has dragged Facebook's parent company, Meta, to court over its use of the infinity symbol as its logo.
The lawsuit, filed in California, has Dfinity claiming that Meta uses the logo for the same reason it chose to register it.
In 2018 the logo of Dfinity was registered at the United States Patent and Trademark Office for centralized platforms and blockchain technology services. Meta, which was rebranding from Facebook, revealed its Metaverse aspirations.
Meta is targeting the same set of users that it is targeting by using the logo, according to Dfinity.
The non-profit foundation claimed that it has been using the logo since 2017, whereas Meta didn't register until March 2022. It also noted that it didn't claim the color palette as a feature of the mark.
It doesn't matter that there are color variations between its logo and that of Meta. It claims that it has ownership rights on all variations of the logo.
Says Meta's logo is harmful to its reputation.
The details of the lawsuit first became public through Trademark attorney Josh Gorben, who posted it on Twitter. A part of the lawsuit states that Dfinity believes that Meta's logo could harm its reputation.
Dfinity also states that Meta was aware of its use of the mark and still proceeded with obtaining registration.
Dfinity and Meta share the logo with others.
There are similarities between the areas where both entities sought registration. Meta used the same description as Dfinity in its trademark application when defining Good and Services.
The foundation wants the court to stop Meta from using the logo and get damages for serious reputational harm. It is hard to know if Dfinity wins the lawsuit as several brands, such as Infinity Speakers, Microsoft Visual Studio, Infinity Wealth Management, etc. They also use the symbol for their logo.
After the collapse of its ICP token, Dfinity shot into the limelight. ICP is currently trading for around $13, which is a steep decline in the asset's value, selling as high as $700 as of May last year.