MARK Zuckerberg may have to pay out $20 million if he wants to continue changing the name of Facebook to Meta.
This is because an Arizona-based business called Meta PCs filed for the trademark of the name in August and isn’t willing to sell it on for any less.
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Meta PCs filed its trademark for ‘Meta’ computers, software and more on August 23 this year.
Founders, Joe Darger and Zack Shutt, reportedly told TMZ that they’d want $20 million before they agree to give up the trademark.
They are said to have invested a lot of their own money into their Meta business over the past year.
Their trademark hasn’t been granted yet but they’re hoping the head start on Zuckerberg could help make the difference.
The billionaire CEO announced the rebranding of Facebook to Meta last week.
Facebook now owns Instagram, WhatsApp and a host of other companies.
It still owns its namesake social media platform and that won’t be changing its name, just the larger umbrella of Facebook is planning to become Meta for corporate purposes.
Zuckerberg’s new choice of name for Facebook hasn’t been all bad news for Meta PC.
The small company is said to have seen a 5,000% increase on their social media channel engagement since the announcement.
However, there could be a few loopholes that Facebook might use to acquire the name.
They could file in a different country and use that application date to file in the US.
Mark P McKenna, a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Law, explained to The Guardian: “They look for a little country without a searchable system and then file there.
“That would be a way for them to have an earlier date.”
Meta PCs has been making light of the situation online and has even made a spoof video pretending that it’s changing its name to Facebook.
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Mark Zuckerberg announces company brand change as he reveals Facebook will now be called Meta
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This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk
