A small UK software company which trademarked the name Threads over 10 years ago is demanding Meta stop using the name within 30 days
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- Threads Software Limited and its lawyers wrote to Meta to tell it to stop using the Threads name in the UK.
- It's owned the British trademark for Threads since 2012.
- And says Meta made four offers to purchase the "threads.app" domain, which it declined.
A British software company is giving Meta 30 days to stop using the name Threads in the UK because it owns the trademark.
Threads Software Limited says its lawyers wrote to the Facebook and Instagram parent company on Monday. If Meta doesn't stop using the name Threads, Threads Software Limited says it will seek an injunction from the courts.
The British company trademarked Threads in 2012 for its intelligent messaging hub, which can store a company's emails, tweets, and voice over internet protocol phone calls in a cloud database.
In a press release, it said it had declined the four offers that Meta's lawyers made to purchase its domain name "threads.app."
Then when Meta launched Threads, its social media app designed to compete with Elon Musk's X, the British company says it was removed from Facebook.
John Yardley, the managing director of Threads Software Limited, said the business "faces a serious threat from one of the largest technology companies in the world."
Meta's app was released in July, shortly after Musk provoked controversy by introducing a temporary limit on how many tweets a user could view.
It then beat ChatGPT to become the fastest app to reach 100 million users, doing so in five days. It was helped by the fact that Threads is linked to Instagram.
By the end of July, Mark Zuckerberg said more than half of Threads users had stopped using the platform. The app has since introduced new features, and has so far had 120 million active users this month.
"We recognize that this is a classic 'David and Goliath' battle with Meta," said Yardley.
"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."
Meta did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.