Operation Bluebird Aims to Revive Twitter
A Virginia-based startup called Operation Bluebird has filed a petition with the US Patent and Trademark Office to cancel X Corporation’s trademarks for the words “Twitter” and “tweet.” The group claims that X Corporation has abandoned these trademarks, effectively ending the Twitter brand.
According to the petition, “The TWITTER and TWEET brands have been eradicated from X Corp’s products, services, and marketing, effectively abandoning the storied brand, with no intention to resume use of the mark.” The group also claims that the iconic Twitter bird logo, affectionately known as “Larry Bird,” has been grounded.
If successful, Operation Bluebird plans to launch a new social network under the name Twitter.new, possibly as early as late next year. The group has already created a working prototype and is inviting users to reserve handles.
Operation Bluebird’s leaders, Michael Peroff and Stephen Coates, argue that while there are alternative social media platforms like Threads, Mastodon, and Bluesky, none have the scale or brand recognition that Twitter had prior to Elon Musk’s takeover. They believe that a new Twitter could fill this gap and become a major player in the national conversation.
Musk bought Twitter in 2022 for $44 billion and eventually changed the company name and brand identity from Twitter to X. In July 2023, Musk tweeted that “we shall bid adieu to the Twitter brand, and gradually, all the birds.” This decision, according to Operation Bluebird, created an opportunity for the Twitter name to be formally abandoned.
Peroff and Coates believe that their moderation tools will help create a more responsible discussion on the new Twitter platform, which could attract commercial brands that have been hesitant to advertise on X due to concerns about unsavory content.
However, trademark law expert Mark Lemley suggests that X Corporation may be able to defend the Twitter marks if it can show that it is still using them or plans to go back to using them. Intellectual property attorney Mark Jaffe thinks that X Corporation may have a battle to keep the Twitter marks, as the company has largely abandoned the Twitter brand and its CEO has publicly stated that it’s now called X.
Source: Link
