Meta Gets Threatened With Legal Action To Change Threads’ Name Within 30 Days

Photo 284482649 © RobertWei | Dreamstime.com

The Threads are getting tangled up. In an all-too-familiar tale of a small firm standing up against a corporate giant in a difficult fight, Threads Software Limited—a UK-based company—has thrown down the gauntlet, challenging Meta’s Instagram over the use of the name “Threads” for its Twitter/X rival.

Meta is being given 30 days, as of October 30, to rename the app in the UK. “If it does not, Threads Software Limited will seek an injunction from the English Courts,” the smaller company notes in a letter.

According to the UK firm, it’s had its brand trademarked and has been on the scene since 2012, offering an intelligent message hub that amalgamates company emails, tweets, and voice notes into a cloud database. Since then, it has licensed almost 1,000 clients around the world, per its press release.

Things took a contentious turn this year when Meta’s Instagram expressed interest in acquiring the ‘threads.app’ domain. After repeated offers, the 11-year-old Threads Software Ltd still refused to sell.

Tensions escalated when Meta proceeded to launch Threads, and purportedly booted the other Threads off Facebook.

“Taking on a US$150 billion company is not an easy decision for us to make,” admits Dr John Yardley, managing director of Threads Software Ltd. However, he adds: “Our business now faces a serious threat from one of the largest technology companies in the world.”

“We recognize that this is a classic ‘David and Goliath’ battle with Meta,” Dr Yardley elaborates. “And whilst they may think they can use whatever name they want, that does not give them the right to use the Threads brand name.”

[via Insider and Gizmodo, cover photo 284482649 © RobertWei | Dreamstime.com]