- Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, encountered legal challenges in Brazil due to trademark issues with a local consultancy, Meta Serviços em Informática, resulting in a court ruling to cease using the name “Meta” within 30 days.
- The consultancy, established in 1990, obtained trademark approval before Meta’s name change, emphasising the significance of adhering to local laws when operating in foreign markets.
- Failure to comply may lead to daily fines, underscoring the need for legal compliance in international business operations.
On March 2nd, the social networking giant Meta, which owns platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, encountered trouble in Brazil, potentially preventing it from using its company’s name locally.
According to Forbes, the São Paulo State Court ruled on the 28th that Meta must cease using the name ‘Meta’ in Brazil within 30 days. Prior to this, Meta had engaged in a seven-month legal debate with a local Brazilian digital consultancy, Meta Serviços em Informática, over trademark rights.
Established in Brazil in 1990, Meta Serviços em Informática applied for a trademark in 1996 and received approval from the Brazilian National Institute of Industrial Property in 2008, predating Mark Zuckerberg’s renaming of Facebook to Meta by over ten years.
Also read: Meta to launch new AI language model Llama 3 in July
Meta might face a daily fine of 100,000 Brazilian reais
If the social networking company Meta fails to comply with this ruling, it faces a daily fine of 100,000 Brazilian reais. However, Meta still has the option to appeal. The judge emphasised in the ruling that Meta Serviços em Informática’s registered trademark has existed for over a quarter of a century, and foreign companies must comply with local regulations if they wish to operate in Brazil.
