Lyra Martin Tech 07.27.2022 22:Jul PM EDT

FTC Files a Complaint Against Meta to Prevent it From Purchasing Within

The Federal Trade Commission has failed a complaint to halt Meta's acquisition of Within. The complaint has also disclosed the platform's other moves to dominate the virtual reality (VR) field after their Meta Quest 2 headgear.

Meta Faces a Complaint as FTC Tries Halt its Acquisition of Within

The FTC filed a complaint on Wednesday (July 27) to prevent Meta from purchasing the VR developer Within. Perhaps the most well-known product that Within has created is Supernatural VR's favorite VR fitness app.

Mark Zuckerberg, Meta's CEO, wants to dominate the VR business. The Quest 2 is the most popular consumer headset, and Facebook and all things Meta have been connected to the "metaverse" for the last year.

The complaint reveals Meta's acquisitions to protect its VR domination. With their Meta Quest 2 headgear, the firm has become a prominent contributor at every level of the VR ecosystem in hardware, in-app distribution, and software with Beat Saber and countless other well-known titles. Mark Zuckerberg takes virtual reality and the metaverse seriously, critics say.

Meta, of course, does not consider its strategies to be those of a monopoly. The business defended itself against what it said was a lawsuit based on "ideology and supposition" in a lengthy statement published on its website.

In recent years, the FTC opposing a tech transaction like this has been uncommon. Other transactions, like Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard and Sony's acquisition of Destiny creator Bungie, have been completed within the last 12 months with less overt FTC scrutiny.

However, one video game firm buying another may not be as controversial as the primary VR access point provider purchasing a number of VR fitness assets.

Whatever happens, this week's events are probably not what Meta had in mind, especially since the complaint was filed only one day after an illogical Quest 2 price increase.

META.is Announced it will Sue Meta for Trademark Infringement

One resentful party has been keeping quiet until recently, although there were some worries when Facebook changed its name to Meta in October that the firm was trying to rule the developing metaverse.

A firm named META (or Meta.is), which creates installation art, said on July 19 that it would sue Meta (or Facebook) for trademark infringement, claiming that Zuckerberg's name change violated the established brand of the smaller company.

The "Art of Being There" is a specialty of the original MetaX firm. Since 2010, it has been doing business as Meta, producing immersive installation experiences that engage audiences for the world's greatest artists, brands, and productions. On the other hand, Meta Platforms didn't rebrand from Facebook to Meta until October 28, 2021.

MetaX, recently testified in federal court in Manhattan that Meta Platforms' use of the term had "eviscerated" its capacity to function as Meta. It is requesting a cease-and-desist order because it claims that the firm has been "crushed by Facebook's brazen, illegal actions" and that it needs to return to its former self before the platform chose to encroach on its territory.

Given the wide variety of trademark applications Facebook has filed since the name change became official including different marks for messaging, social networks, and financial services, Meta.is may still have an uphill struggle in court despite holding a legitimate claim for the term.

Several trademarks for non-tech items, such as a maker of prosthetic limbs and a hard seltzer, also claim the Meta brand.