Elon Musk's X Slapped With Trademark Lawsuit By Market Agency Named X Social Media

The federal lawsuit appears to be the first of what could be numerous trademark disputes with Musk's company over the letter "X".

Tech billionaire Elon Musk's X, formerly Twitter, has been hit by a new trademark lawsuit from a marketing agency. The legal marketing agency has sued X Corp and said that the micro-blogging platform's new name infringes its trademark by incorporating the letter "X". The lawsuit also claimed that X Corp, which owner Musk began rebranding to X from Twitter in July, was likely to cause consumer confusion. The lawsuit has been filed by Windermere, Florida-based X Social Media.

The lawsuit was filed in the US District Court for the Middle District of Florida. The federal lawsuit appears to be the first of what could be numerous trademark disputes with Musk's company over the letter "X", which is commonly used in tech branding. Social Media is an ad agency focused on mass-tort litigation. Its website says that Jacob and Roseanna Malherbe founded the agency in 2015 to connect Florida panhandle residents with attorneys in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The lawsuit read: "Despite its knowledge of X Social Media’s trademark rights, X Corp. filed multiple trademark applications for the use of the mark “X”, including an application for the following services: Business data analysis; promotional services; business consulting and information services; business, consumer, and market research."

"These services are not only identical and closely related to those offered by X Social Media, but they also encompass services and market channels where X Social Media has laboured for years to successfully cultivate brand awareness for its X SocialMedia Mark among consumers," the lawsuit noted.

The agency has also added that Twitter's rebranding to X has already confused customers and caused it to lose revenue.