Twitter as X: How it Risks Lawsuits from Tech Giants?

Twitter as 'X' may face legal difficulties because other corporations already own the letter

Elon Musk has always shown a fondness for the letter 'X.' This time, though, Musk's preoccupation with 'X' may land him in the middle of many lawsuits.

Meta and Microsoft, for example, already have intellectual property rights to the same letter. Furthermore, the letter 'X' is so frequently used and quoted in trademarks that it would be unusual for Twitter to successfully turn it into 'X' without legal difficulties.

 There's a 100 percent likelihood that Twitter will be sued over this, trademark attorney Josh Gerben told Reuter's Blake Brittain. According to Josh, there are approximately 900 current U.S. trademark registrations that already cover the letter X across a variety of businesses. 

Twitter rebrand to 'X'

On Monday, Elon Musk rebranded the Twitter social media network Twitter to X and introduced a new logo for the social media site. The alphabet was stylized in black-and-white versions of the letters.

Owners of trademarks, which protect items such as brand names, logos, and slogans used to identify the origin of goods. If other brands cause customer confusion, their owners can sue for infringement. The remedies vary from monetary damages to the prohibition of usage. 

'X' is owned by Microsoft

Microsoft has owned an 'X' trademark since 2003. The ownership was linked to conversations regarding its Xbox video game system. Meanwhile, Meta Platforms, Twitter's new rival, possesses a federal trademark registered in 2019 for a blue-and-white letter 'X' for software and social media industries.

According to Gerben, there is a slim probability that Meta and Microsoft would sue Elon Musk over the logo unless they feel scared that Twitter's X infringes on the brand value they developed in the letter.