Meta, which manages Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, won an appeal in court, allowing the company to continue using its trademark in Brazil. Judge Heraldo de Oliveira, from the São Paulo Court of Justice, suspended the effects of a previous decision that prevented the technology conglomerate from using the name “Meta” in the country.

At the end of February, the São Paulo Court had given Meta 30 days to stop using the name in Brazil. The daily fine for non-compliance had been set at R$100,000.

The decision was taken by the 1st Chamber of Business Law of the Court of Justice at the request of a Brazilian company, also in the technology segment, which has held the trademark registration granted by the Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office (BPTO) since 2008.

Risk of harm, according to the magistrate

When analyzing Meta’s appeal, Judge Heraldo de Oliveira, president of the private law section of the São Paulo Court of Justice, considered that there is a risk of damage that would be difficult to repair if the company was forced to comply with the previous decision and stop using the brand, since that there is the possibility of reversing the case in higher courts.

“The risk of irreparable damage or damage that is difficult to repair arises from the losses that would be caused by compliance, from the outset, with the determination that the appellant (Meta) cease the use of the trademarks containing the term ‘META’ and provide postings on its channels of communication and sending of letters to public bodies, within thirty calendar days, considering the possibility of reversing the R. (respectable) decision attacked, by the E. (Egrégia) Superior Court,” decided the judge, on Friday, 15.

Source: Exame