--- title: "Another Company Called Meta Is Suing Facebook’s Parent Company for Changing Its Name to Meta" description: "META, an art installation company, is now suing Meta, the corporation formerly known as Facebook, claiming that its identity has been stolen." date: "2022-07-20" modified: "2022-07-20" authors: - name: "Frank Landymore" job_title: "Contributing Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/flandymore" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/meta-suing-meta" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "Future Society" - "Meta" tags: - "facebook" - "Meta" - "metaverse" - "the digest" --- # Another Company Called Meta Is Suing Facebook’s Parent Company for Changing Its Name to Meta ![META, an art installation company, is now suing Meta, the corporation formerly known as Facebook, claiming that its identity has been stolen.]() *\Image: Futurism\* ## Identify Theft Meta is now suing Meta. That may sound like a bit of a head-scratcher, but a smaller company known as Meta has announced that it's filing a lawsuit against the well known Meta that is Facebook's parent company, as [spotted by *The Verge*](). Founded in 2010, the smaller Meta creates and promotes live, multi-sensory art experiences — sometimes featuring virtual and augmented reality tech — and has catered to clients ranging from *National Geographic* to Intel. "On October 28, 2021, Facebook seized our META mark and name, which we put our blood, sweat, and tears into building for over twelve years," reads a pop-up announcement [on the company’s website](). "One of the most powerful companies in the world took our identity without notice." "Today, after eight months of trying to negotiate with Facebook in good faith to no avail, we were left with no choice but to file a lawsuit against them," the notice reads**.** ## Different Kind of Metaverse In October of last year, Facebook CEO and [accused robot]() Mark Zuckerberg [announced]() that the parent corporation was renaming itself to "Meta" in a major — and [perhaps faltering]() — push into the virtual reality market. Facebook doesn’t exactly have the greatest track record with the public to begin with, especially when it comes to [protecting users' privacy](). The company's [dystopian]() — and [hilariously janky]() — efforts to establish "[the Metaverse]()" haven't helped its image, either. ## Facebook Toxicity With that in mind, it's not exactly surprising that the smaller Meta doesn’t want its name associated with any of that. In a [complaint filed with a US district court,]() the smaller Meta claims that "it can no longer provide goods and services under the META mark because consumers are likely to mistakenly believe that Meta’s goods and services emanate from Facebook and that Meta is associated with the toxicity that is inextricably linked with Facebook." It's a lawsuit with David versus Goliath odds. While the smaller Meta may have a decent case **—** after all, it was founded long before Facebook changed its name **—** it will be far from easy to topple a giant like Facebook in a legal battle. In other words, it's safe to say that the two companies aren't going to be [metamates]() anytime soon. **More on the metaverse:** [*Man Uses Life Savings to Buy Nonexistent Metaverse Land*]() ## Author At Futurism, my work has often centered on bringing a sense of clarity and insight to complex topics ranging from the regulation of emerging technologies to the esoteric ideologies of Silicon Valley executives, while striving not to lose the poetic sense of awe inspired by often-obscure fields like astrophysics and quantum computing. I broke the story of CNET using AI to produce articles that turned out to be riddled with factual errors and plagiarism — a dam-breaking inflection point, as I've reported, that's inspired copycats and endless discourse while beguiling stakeholders ranging from tech giants to purveyors of spam around the web. My work at Futurism has been cited by publications including CBS News, the Los Angeles Times, Vice, Gizmodo, Engadget, the Verge, and Vanity Fair. I grew up in locales ranging from India to China, and now live in the exotic suburbs of Virginia. In my free time, I'm an avid reader of weird sci-fi literature, an aficionado of East Asian cinema, and, regrettably, a relapsed gamer. Allegedly, I’m working on a debut novel, currently untitled. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()