SAO PAULO (Reuters) -Facebook-parent Meta on Friday won an appeal overturning a previous court ruling that barred it from using its name in Brazil due to confusion with another company.

Mark Zuckerberg's tech company was in late February ordered to stop using its name in Brazil within 30 days after a Brazilian computer services provider won a favourable ruling arguing it already owned rights to the name and had as a result of the U.S. branding been wrongly cited in over 100 lawsuits.

In a statement, the Brazilian Meta said it owned the name's rights in Brazil, adding it believed the law should be followed "regardless of business decisions made by groups that want to operate in our country".

The company can still appeal the decision.

U.S. Meta, formerly called Facebook, changed its name in 2021 in a rebrand that focused on building the "metaverse," a shared virtual environment.