Can Twitter Return? Legal Dispute Challenges Elon Musk’s X
Is Twitter really gone? As Elon Musk’s X faces a legal challenge over the Twitter brand, a new startup claims the iconic name is abandoned. Here’s what’s happening.
Twitter vs X: Who owns the iconic bird brand now?
Do you think we've seen the last of Twitter? The case, however, is that the rebranding of Musk’s social media platform X, which has long been associated with Twitter, has not completely buried the “Twitter” saga which is obviously still alive and kicking because it is a legal battle over the name that millions still remember and continue using.
Reports say that a start-up named Operation Bluebird has gone to the US Patent and Trademark Office asking them to declare that X has in fact abandoned the Twitter and Tweet trademarks. The start-up is co-founded by Stephen Coates, who used to be the general counsel of Twitter, which adds an interesting twist to the whole affair.
The company has come up with the argument that the brand X has been purged of every aspect of the brand “Twitter” after a complete physical and mental transformation. From a legal point of view, that could amount to the “abandonment” of the trademark. To make matters worse, the start-up has announced that it will be launching a new social media platform under the name twitter.new.
In the meantime, X has answered very quickly and very sturdily. In the new Terms of Service, which will come into effect on January 16, 2025, the firm makes it explicit that individuals are not allowed to use the names, logos, or any trademarks of X or Twitter without the company’s prior written consent. It looks like the whole thing is just an attempt to strengthen X's assertion that it still has legal ownership of the Twitter brand notwithstanding the bloody rebranding.
It is believed that X has also filed a counter-petition to protect its trademarks and to attack Operation Bluebird's claims. The firm makes the point that twitter.com continues to point users to X.com, and, therefore, it is not a case of the brand being abandoned—merely being transformed.
The entire affair has people very much interested and is the topic of conversation on all online forums. Operation Bluebird claims that more than 145,000 users are already trying to secure their desired usernames on the new service which speaks volumes of the emotional connection the diehard fans of Twitter still have with the platform and its name.
Coates is on the other side of the conflict and keeps saying that the situation is quite clear-cut. When X got rid of the old logo, branded the new one all over and called Twitter “dead”, it just as well relinquished its control over the old brand. "They said goodbye," he remarked. "We say hello.”
As the legal battle proceeds, one issue keeps on being the main topic of discussion: Is Twitter really dead or its legacy just reborn?
