WIPS global: [International IP Briefing] US, WIPO

U.S. X Corp. Settles Trademark Lawsuit Over the Letter ‘X’

On September 15, 2025, Reuters reported that U.S.-based X Corp., the parent company of the former Twitter, reached a settlement in a trademark infringement lawsuit with X Social Media, a Florida-based legal marketing firm.

In October 2022, U.S. entrepreneur Elon Musk acquired the social media platform Twitter and rebranded it as “X” in July 2023.

On July 24, 2023, Reuters reported that several companies, including Meta and Microsoft, already held intellectual property rights to the letter “X,” and that the widespread use of “X” as a trademark could raise multiple legal issues under trademark law.

(History)

In October 2023, X Social Media filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against X Corp. in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. The company claimed that Twitter’s rebranding to “X” created consumer confusion with its own “X” trademark, resulting in revenue losses. It sought both an injunction to stop the use of the “X” name and monetary damages.

X Social Media, which has operated as a mass-tort client recruitment advertising agency since 2016, had been using “X” as a trademark and had previously run ads on Facebook to attract potential clients. X Corp. countered that the letter “X” had long been used by many companies and therefore did not constitute trademark infringement.

In July 2024, the Florida federal court sided with X Social Media’s claim that its “X” trademark had attained “incontestable” status, meeting statutory requirements and therefore shielding the registration itself from further challenge. The court allowed the infringement claim to proceed.

(Settlement)

On September 15, 2025, X Corp. and X Social Media jointly submitted a settlement agreement to the Florida federal court, requesting dismissal of the case with prejudice. Neither party disclosed the specific terms of the settlement.

(Related Development)

On February 20, 2025, X Corp. also resolved a similar “X” trademark lawsuit brought by the U.S. advertising company Multiply through settlement.

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WIPO

WIPO Releases 2025 Ranking of the World’s Top 100 Innovation Clusters

On September 1, 2025, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) announced the Top 100 Innovation Clusters Worldwide 2025, ahead of the release of the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2025.

(Overview)

An innovation cluster refers to a city or region that drives innovation, serving as a key engine of a nation’s innovation ecosystem.

(Highlights)

The 2025 ranking of the Top 100 Innovation Clusters was based on analysis of:

1. Patent filing activity under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT),

2. Scientific publication activity, and

3. Venture capital (VC) activity, newly introduced in 2025.

This methodology identifies geographic areas with the highest density of inventors, scientific authors, and venture capitalists worldwide.

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Top 5 Innovation Clusters

Shenzhen–Hong Kong–Guangzhou (China/Hong Kong) ranked first, Tokyo–Yokohama (Japan) ranked second, San Jose–San Francisco (United States) ranked 3^rd, Beijing (China) ranked 4^th, and Seoul (Republic of Korea) ranked 5^th. Combined, Shenzhen–Hong Kong–Guangzhou and Tokyo–Yokohama account for about 1/5 of all PCT filings worldwide.

Top 5 for Intensive Innovation Activity

When measured relative to population density, the clusters with the most intensive innovation activity are:

Among the Top 100 innovation clusters, the clusters showing the most intensive innovation activity relative to population density were San Jose–San Francisco (United States) in 1^st place, Cambridge (United Kingdom) in 2^nd, Boston–Cambridge (United States) in 3^rd, Ningde (China) in 4^th, and Oxford (United Kingdom) in 5^th.

Top 5 Countries

The countries with the largest number of innovation clusters in the Top 100 are:

The countries with the largest number of innovation clusters in the Top 100 were China with 24 clusters in 1^st place, the United States with 22 clusters in 2^nd, Germany with 7 clusters in 3^rd, India with 4 clusters in 4^th, and the United Kingdom with 4 clusters in 5^th, with China ranking first for the second consecutive year.