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01/12/2021
Facebook’s new Meta rebrand is causing chaos for businesses already trading under the name Meta. One such company being Meta PCs. The Arizona-based company, which sells tech for gamers, had reportedly the name ‘Meta’ in August, some months before Facebook did.
Until Mark Zuckerberg announced the change to the tech giant’s last week, nobody on the Meta PCs team had any idea it was coming. Their petition is not yet granted, however founders Zach Shutt and Joe Darger have told US publication TMZ they’re willing to pull their application, if Facebook pays up $20 million for the favour as the move would force them to rebrand their own company, at considerable cost.
Elsewhere, a company claiming to be named Meta Company has released an open letter suggesting Facebook stole their name and livelihood. In the letter, Meta Company founder Nate Skulic claims lawyers representing Facebook have been “hounding” the , trying to get them to sell their name. He claims Facebook has “tried to bury us by force of media”, and says the letter should be regarded as a public cease and desist.
However, the legitimacy of Meta Company, and its claims, have also come into question. The appears to have no website, aside from the page hosting the letter. There is no information online as to what the business is or what it does, and all of its social media pages were created in the past few weeks or days.
It does appear, nonetheless, that someone named Nathaniel Skulic has been heading up a Chicago-based business named Meta LLC since 2013. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below...
18/10/2021
Kanye West files ‘Donda’ trademark for new line of tech products
Innovative rapper, producer, and entrepreneur Kanye West is continuing his efforts to grow his business empire with a new named after his late mother. The multi-hyphenate rap star will expand his business empire with tablets, wearable computers, and audio systems.
According to TMZ, Ye's company filed a application on September 21 to slap the name "Donda" on a slew of tech line products. The “goods and services” listed in the application include tablet computers, surround sound systems, headphones, virtual reality headsets, smartphones, USB flash drives and all manner of protective cases for phones and other electronic equipment (including some in leather!). Among the more “futuristic” goods listed are smart bracelets, smart rings and smart necklaces, though there are also some comparatively analogue goods like the mouse pads and Compact Disc cases.
West has always been up front about his technological ambitions, even as he’s cemented his entrepreneurial empire in clothing and shoes. The rapper may also be branching off into the media industry, putting the name Donda on books, magazines, journals, brochures, leaflets, pamphlets, and newsletters all in the field of music and entertainment news. As previously reported, Kanye is also planning to open The Donda Academy—a school in Simi Valley, California, that will be “focused on equipping students with an education that will last in the ever-changing world,” according to their website.
Kanye has been busy building a new empire under the Donda brand name. Last month, he to create homeware products. According to TMZ, the products will include shower curtains, textile wall hangings, towels, placemats, and blankets.
26/08/2021
Earlier this year Ford introduced its hands-free driving technology, naming it BlueCruise. General Motors (GM) and its subsidiary Cruise, filed a lawsuit against Ford claiming that Ford’s BlueCruise name was too similar to that of GM’s Super Cruise and Cruise’s .
Ford introduced BlueCruise in April and GM quickly took issue with the name. The automakers spent several weeks in "good-faith conversations" with Ford hoping to find a resolution, but they did not. GM and Cruise are asking for Ford to pay monetary damages related to the incident and for the manufacturer to stop using the BlueCruise name.
In this case against Ford, GM for an injunction asking that Ford be forced to stop using BlueCruise. So to defend itself, Ford had no choice but to file a request with the Patent and Office asking it to rescind GM’s “Cruise” and “Super Cruise” . In the petition, Ford argued GM's terms never should have been because "cruise" is a common word, long used in relation to the speed-control technology cruise control.
GM’s Super Cruise technology was announced in 2012 and has been used commercially since 2017. Cruise has been in business since 2013; GM acquired it in 2016. The Cruise and Super Cruise along with other Cruise-containing names were mostly filed or registered last year, according to GM's lawsuit complaint. The earliest application for Super Cruise was filed in 2016, and the earliest registration was issued in 2018.
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