The trademark for “Meta” may carry a Mega price

Mark Zuckerberg recently announced that Facebook was changing its name to “Meta” as part of a re-branding effort to focus on the company’s creation of a digital world known as the metaverse. However, the name change has come with a snag – an Arizona start-up that creates computer hardware had already filed a trademark application to register the name “Meta” for before Facebook’s name change. According to some reports, the owners of the Arizona company are willing to part with the Meta name for the paltry sum of $20 million. While the Arizona company hasn’t completed the registration process yet, it certainly doesn’t hurt that they are earlier to the punch than Facebook. And it goes to show, you should never underestimate the value of a brand. Interestingly enough, Facebook’s re-branding may have backfired according to a new study which showed that the name change to Meta caused public trust in the brand to fall. Speculation has swirled that Facebook changed its name in order to distance itself from negative fallout after a whistleblower’s release of internal documents showing harmful effects of the social media platform.

Kernza – A wheat variety for modern times

​Kernza is the trademark name for a perennial wheatgrass variety that may have found its ultimate calling in farming’s future. As the carbon footprint of global agriculture systems have come into sharp focus in climate change policy, many stakeholders are looking at how to make crop production “climate-smart.” One solution is the adoption of perennial crops to take the place of the predominant annual varieties such as wheat. Developed through a plant breeding collaboration with The Land Institute, Kernza produces grain that is a close cousin to annual wheat and has been successfully utilized in traditional wheat applications, such as flour, breads, beer, and whisky. As a perennial, Kernza offers a host of benefits, including less tillage, longer-term carbon sequestration, erosion control, improved soil health, and will likely reduce production costs. As breeders continue to improve yields, perennial crops such as Kernza should be well positioned to take its place in sustainable farming systems.

Firm News

I had the special privilege of visiting with Dr. Leandro Mozzoni’s class of up-and-coming plant breeders this week. Dr. Mozzoni is a Professor of Soybean Breeding and Genetics at the University of Arkansas and utilizes conventional and advanced breeding tools to develop commercial, niche, and food-grade varieties. We had a great discussion of current issues and future trends in the business of plant breeding and development of products for food and crop production.