A federal court has ruled that Elon Musk's X can prevent a startup from using the "Twitter" name, but likely lost trademark rights to the word "tweet" and the bird logo. Operation Bluebird, the startup, has rebranded to "Tweet.App."
The ruling clarifies the ownership of former Twitter trademarks, allowing X to protect its core brand name while potentially opening the door for others to utilize abandoned marks like "tweet" and the bird logo, impacting the competitive landscape of social media platforms.
A federal court in Delaware has ruled on a trademark dispute between Elon Musk's X and a startup, Operation Bluebird, which aimed to launch a rival social network using Twitter-related trademarks. The court granted X a preliminary injunction preventing Operation Bluebird from using the "Twitter" name, acknowledging X's continued use of the name in its App Store listing as "formerly known as Twitter." However, the judge denied X's request concerning the "tweet" mark and the Twitter bird logo, finding that X had likely discontinued their bona fide use and did not intend to resume it.
Operation Bluebird, which had initially launched under the name Twitter.now, has since rebranded its app to "Tweet.app" following the ruling. The company, led by founder Michael Peroff and president Stephen Coates, stated its intention to acquire abandoned trademarks. The court's decision noted that Operation Bluebird was likely to succeed in proving X's discontinuation of the "Tweet" mark and bird logo.
The case will proceed to determine the ultimate ownership of the remaining Twitter marks, given X's rebranding. The startup is charging users $20 to reserve handles, potentially to cover legal expenses.
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