The company cited a post by Elon Musk on social media on July 23, 2023, in which Musk mentioned that the social network would soon be 'saying goodbye to the Twitter brand.'
What you should know
Elon Musk-owned social network X (formerly Twitter) has amended its terms of service to clarify that it retains ownership of the name 'Twitter' and all related trademarks.
The move comes after the American startup company filed a trademark application for the word 'Twitter'.
Virginia-based startup 'Operation Bluebird' filed a petition with the US Patent and Trademark Office on December 2, claiming that X had abandoned the 'Twitter' brand. The company cited a post by Elon Musk on social media on July 23, 2023, in which Musk mentioned that the social network would soon 'say goodbye to the Twitter brand'.
However, X has filed a counterclaim denying the claim. According to TechCrunch, The document was made public through intellectual property and trademark law firm 'Gerben IP', although the document had not been seen in the official US court system by the time of publication. In the counterclaim, X stated that it has exclusive ownership of the 'Twitter' and 'Tweet' trademarks and the blue bird logo.
In addition to filing the petition, Operation Bluebird has also started registering potential users through a website called ' Twitter.new '. The effort is being led by Illinois-based lawyer Michael Peroff and former Twitter trademark lawyer Stephen Coates. Given their backgrounds, it has been analyzed that the intention is to acquire the 'Twitter' trademark rather than starting a new social network to compete with X.
Keeping this risk in mind, X has revised its terms of service. Previously, the terms of service only mentioned 'X', without any reference to the name 'Twitter'. The revised terms of service also include updates on European Union laws and content production.
