Twitter as X: Elon Musk's firm can attract lawsuits from firms like Meta, Microsoft, and others. Here's why

livemint.com:

Elon Musk has always managed to show her liking for the alphabet ‘X’. However, this time, Musk's obsession for ‘X’ can bring him at the centre of several lawsuits.  According to experts, companies including Meta and Microsoft already have intellectual property rights to the same letter. Moreover, the alphabet ‘X’ is so widely used and cited in trademarks that it would be rare for Twitter if it managed to transform into ‘X’ without any legal complications.  "There's a 100% chance that Twitter is going to get sued over this by somebody," trademark attorney Josh Gerben told Reuter's Blake Brittain.

Josh said he counted nearly 900 active U.S. trademark registrations that already cover the letter X in a wide range of industries. Elon Musk renamed Twitter social media network Twitter as X on Monday and unveiled a new logo for the social media platform.

The alphabet looked like a stylized black-and-white version of the letter. Owners of trademarks, which protect things like brand names, logos, and slogans that identify sources of goods. These owners can claim infringement if other branding would cause consumer confusion.

Remedies range from monetary damages to blocking use.  Since 2003, Microsoft has owned an ‘X’ trademark. The ownership was associated with communications about its Xbox video-game system. Moreover, Meta platforms, new rival of Twitter, owns a federal trademark registered in 2019 covering a blue-and-white letter ‘X’ for fields including software and social media.