PR firm Multiply sues Elon Musk’s X for violating trademark rights

PR firm Multiply is suing Elon Musk’s social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, for violating its trademark rights. 

According to a lawsuit filed in California federal court on Sunday, the complaint says X causes confusion by using the “X” trademark for social media marketing services that compete with Multiply. 

Since 2019, Multiply has operated under a stylized “X” trademark registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office known as the “X Mark”, according to the complaint, which was reported on by Reuters.

The trademarked “X” applies to Class 35 which includes advertising and business. The origin of the trademark dates back to October 2016, the lawsuit says, when Multiply and its CEO, Dan Baum, decided to create a new logo. On March 9, 2018, Baum filed an Intent to Use application with the USPTO, seeking trademark protection for the stylized symbol “X.”

On January 21, 2020, the USPTO granted Baum registration of the X Mark on the Principal Register, Registration No. 5968076, with a filing date of March 9, 2018.

Multiply declined to comment on the lawsuit or its defense of the trademark. X’s press email responded to requests for comment with the message “Busy now, please check back later.” 

Multiply creates marketing campaigns primarily for clients seeking to promote their brand on social platforms such as X, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. Those platforms, including X, “routinely respond” to the same clients seeking marketing and social media services which directly compete with Multiply for prospective and existing clients’ marketing budgets, the complaint says. 

The X Mark is the only registered trademark of a stylized letter X that is used in a manner that competes with X in the social media advertising industry, according to the lawsuit.

Musk acquired Twitter in October of 2022. He renamed the social media platform as X a year ago on Tuesday, replacing the application’s iconic blue bird logo with a black X.

The rebrand was completed this year as the URL officially transitioned to X.com in May. 

Following Twitter’s rebrand last year, Multiply’s clients began inquiring about the similarity of the two brandings and whether the agency was affiliated with X, the documents state. The claim references a specific instance in which a client chose not to renew its contract following a conversation regarding similarities between Musk’s X and Multiply’s brand. 

Musk’s rebranding of Twitter has “irreparably damaged” Multiply’s identity as “X” as well as its ability to “present itself as a prestigious, influential, accomplished and innovative competitor to X, among other social media and public relations agencies,” the lawsuit states. 

After the USPTO published Multiply’s application for trademark protection for the X Mark in the Trademark Official Gazette in 2018, neither Musk nor X objected during the objection period or at any time thereafter. 

Musk and his platform have not contacted Multiply or Baum at any time to seek consent to use the X Mark or a substantially similar mark nor have they contacted Multiply or Baum at any time to offer or negotiate a royalty for a license to use the X Mark or a substantially similar mark, according to the lawsuit. 

In December 2023, X, the platform, filed an application to register its Infringing Mark in Class 35, the same class as the X Mark, for the same purposes, including “business data analysis” and “promotional services,” among other uses.

Multiply notified X in May that it was infringing on Multiply’s X Mark and agreed to a two-month standstill with the platform to negotiate a potential resolution. The agency has since followed up multiple times, according to the claim, but X has not responded. 

X has never paid a royalty or any other remuneration to Multiple for the use of the X Mark, according to the lawsuit. 

In the lawsuit, Multiply asked the court to force X Corp. to stop using the “X” trademark and to award an unspecified amount of monetary damages. 

Multiply is a social media and PR agency that creates and maintains social media advertising campaigns for various brands including breweries, wineries and soda manufacturers, among others. The Virginia-based agency has created social-media ad campaigns for drink brands such as Arizona, Corona and Liquid Death, according to the firm’s website.