Dfinity Foundation Files Lawsuit Against Meta Over Infinity Logo

Meta Platforms Inc.'s rebranded infinity logo infringes a trademark owned by Dfinity Foundation, a Swiss nonprofit that develops a public blockchain network, a suit filed Friday in a San Francisco federal court alleges.

The complaint says Meta’s rebranding from Facebook last year to focus on developing services in the metaverse will cause consumers to believe that it is associated with Dfinity, which uses an infinity symbol logo.

Both the logos were approved by the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Dfinity although claims, that its logo has been a mark of its services since March 2017, CoinTelegraph reported.

Dfinity, which was founded in Zurich, Switzerland, in 2016, has research centers around the world that develop the Internet Computer, a decentralized blockchain network that allows users to build websites and internet services.

Dfinity's legal team has laid out a list of reasons why they do not think sharing a similar logo with Meta is a good idea.

“Meta and Dfinity seek to attract the same users, namely those who are looking for an innovative and different internet experience, created by users, for users. Further, both Meta and Dfinity utilise the same marketing channels such that consumers will likely encounter the marks through those same channels,” CoinTelegraph quoted the lawsuit as reading.

Dfinity has further blamed Meta for proceeding with an infinity logo when they were aware that another company had already assigned its identity with the mathematical symbol.

“The similarities between Meta's mark and Dfinity's mark, and Meta's intended use of its mark in the same space and through the same customer base as Dfinity, will cause confusion because consumers will mistakenly believe that Meta and its services are connected with, sponsored by, affiliated with, or related to Dfinity, or that Dfinity and its services are connected with, sponsored by, affiliated with or related to Meta,” the lawsuit added.

Dfinity lawyers have claimed that the blockchain foundation has already incurred losses in revenue due to confusion with Meta because of the logo.

Meta's response on the situation remains awaited.

On November 1 2021, social networking mammoth Facebook announced a fresh rebranding under a new name, Meta, unveiling its new infinity logo.

“The metaverse isn't something we're building; so much as it's something we're building for,” Clegg said, reiterating the vision shared by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg earlier in October.

May 03, 2022