A federal court decided that “Twitter” was off-limits, but tweet and the bird logo were fair game.
The return of Twitter is getting even more complicated. Last week, a startup called Operation Bluebird preemptively launched a new social media platform under the name Twitter.now, while a judge was yet to rule on a request for a preliminary injunction due to trademark infringement. Earlier this week, US District Judge Colm Connolly finally offered an initial ruling, which has led to the new platform rebranding to Tweet.app.
According to the ruling, the judge said that using the “Twitter” name would cause confusion for consumers and infringe trademarks, meaning Operation Bluebird can’t use the original name. However, the court also ruled that X likely abandoned the word “tweet” and its bird logo, meaning that these two were available to use without any trademark infringement claims. On its FAQ page, Tweet.app explained that, “a federal court declined to enjoin our use of the Tweet mark and the bird logo, finding we’re likely to prove X Corp. abandoned both.”
The Tweet.app website is currently live, but is still only accepting waitlist applicants for its upcoming social media platform. According to TechCrunch, more than 172,000 have already signed up and requested a handle, which costs $20 to reserve. Tweet.app also offers a Fighter tier for $40, which seemingly gets all the perks of a founder, including a founder number and badge, along with an exclusive slingshot badge “for the people who don’t just show up, they stand up,” according to the website. While there’s now a decision on the preliminary injunction, the trademark infringement case is still ongoing and expected to go to trial, according to Tweet.app.
