Judge Prevents X Competitor from Utilizing Twitter Name, Yet Permits ‘Tweet’ for the Time Being

A federal court in Delaware has made a decision in a trademark dispute involving Elon Musk’s X and a budding competitor called Operation Bluebird. Initially, the startup operated under the name Twitter.now, but the court prohibited it from using this name, supporting X’s claim over the fundamental “Twitter” trademark. Nonetheless, the court also concluded that X had probably forfeited two related trademarks—the word “tweet” and the Twitter bird logo—thus making them available for use. Subsequently, Operation Bluebird rebranded its platform as Tweet.app, utilizing the now-unclaimed “tweet” name, and has officially launched.

The narrative surrounding this Virginia-based startup is more about acquiring lapsed trademarks rather than innovating. The company’s website explicitly outlines its mission to reclaim names that Elon Musk let go when he transformed the social media platform into X, literally stating that he “threw the bird away on his way out.”

The initiative is led by two lawyers, including founder Michael Peroff from Illinois and Stephen Coates, who previously worked as a trademark attorney at Twitter. Given their legal expertise, their claim of intent to develop a new social network seems questionable. They are most likely focused on obtaining Twitter’s trademarks, which hold significant market value.

Nonetheless, Tweet.app is making strides by allowing users to register during its initial testing phase. The company reported that over 172,000 users had requested a handle prior to the launch. This interest is likely fueled by the enduring popularity of the “Twitter” brand name, which they can no longer use.

Importantly, the startup is charging users $20 to secure their handles, which likely assists in financing their legal expenses.

It should be noted that the court’s ruling is not conclusive. U.S. District Court Judge Colm F. Connolly issued a mixed decision regarding X’s request for a preliminary injunction to prevent Operation Bluebird from using several Twitter trademarks, which the startup contends X has abandoned since its rebranding.

The judge upheld X’s request for a preliminary injunction concerning eight Twitter-related marks but rejected it for the Tweet mark and Twitter bird logo.

In his ruling, the judge expressed that Bluebird was “likely to succeed in proving both that X Corp. discontinued the bona fide use of the Tweet mark and Bird logo and that it intends not to resume the use of the marks.”

The case will continue to assess whether X still maintains rights over any Twitter trademarks, considering that the organization has rebranded as X in many instances.

“They kept the word. They let go of the bird, and they let go of the tweet,” stated Coates, president of Operation Bluebird, in an email announcement regarding the rebrand shared with the press. “A tweet was never a corporation. It’s one person saying something. That word survived three years of a company trying to replace it because the public opted not to stop using it. We believe that indicates where it truly belongs,” he added.