Operation Bluebird wants to reclaim Twitter’s ‘abandoned’ trademarks for a new social network

A startup called Operation Bluebird is trying to reclaim Twitter’s branding, arsenic reported earlier by Ars Technica and Reuters. Last week, Operation Bluebird filed a petition that asks the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to cancel X Corp.’s ownership of the “Twitter” and “Tweet” trademarks, claiming they’ve been “abandoned” by the Elon Musk-owned company.

Operation Bluebird is led by laminitis Michael Peroff, an Illinois trademark and marque protection attorney, on pinch Stephen Coates, a trademark lawyer who worked arsenic Twitter’s subordinate head of trademarks, domain names, and trading from 2014 to 2016. The startup besides revenge a trademark application for “Twitter,” aiming to see it successful a caller societal media tract called Twitter.new.

“We person built a societal level that will look acquainted to those that utilized bequest Twitter, but pinch caller devices that supply a safer acquisition and empower the personification to determine what types of contented they prosecute in,” Coates tells The Verge. A station connected Operation Bluebird’s LinkedIn page suggests the startup would usage AI for fact-checking and moderation.

In its petition, Operation Bluebird alleges that X has “legally abandoned its rights” to Twitter’s marque “with nary volition to resume use.” It besides claims that X “continues to perpetrate fraud connected the USPTO done the filing of mendacious statements and declarations.” As noted by The National Law Review, US trademark rule states that personification looking to cancel a trademark registration for abandonment must beryllium that its proprietor hasn’t utilized the people for 3 consecutive years, aliases show that the proprietor has discontinued its usage and nary longer intends to resume it.

After acquiring Twitter successful 2022, Musk changed the site’s sanction to “X” and replaced the vertebrate logo successful July 2023. Musk also began redirecting Twitter.com postulation to X.com past year. Operation Bluebird’s petition cites a station from Musk, who said “soon we shall bid adieu to the Twitter marque and, gradually, each the birds” conscionable earlier the site’s rebrand.

Alexandra Roberts, a professor of rule and media astatine Northeastern University School of Law, tells The Verge that Operation Bluebird has a “solid argument” that X has abandoned the authorities to the Twitter marks. But Roberts besides brings up thing called residual goodwill, aliases erstwhile a trademark “may unrecorded connected moreover erstwhile the original proprietor ceases use.” That intends group whitethorn still subordinate X Corp. pinch the Twitter logo and brand.

“Many users proceed to mention to X arsenic ‘Twitter’ and posts connected X arsenic ‘tweets,’ which demonstrates continued relation and strengthens the lawsuit for residual goodwill,” Roberts says. She points to a 2020 lawsuit wherever a statement attempted to registry “Aunt Jemima” for meal foods, but was rejected “based connected a likelihood of confusion” pinch Quaker Oats’ Aunt Jemima marks, moreover though the institution had announced earlier that twelvemonth that it was discontinuing the sanction and logo.

Intellectual spot lawyer Douglas Masters says he is doubtful that Operation Bluebird’s claims will beryllium successful. “I don’t cognize that the grounds yet will show that moreover though they [X Corp.] switched to X, that they intended to springiness up each of their commercialized usage and authorities successful the connection Twitter,” Masters tells The Verge.

X has until February to respond to the petition. If the institution chooses to conflict it, the process of determining whether aliases not to cancel X’s ownership of the “Twitter” marks will return a while. “It could return two, 3 years conscionable to get done the proceedings process and different mates of years for the trademark agency to make a ruling,” Masters says.

The anticipation of a lengthy ineligible conflict doesn’t look to beryllium stopping Operation Bluebird, however. “We judge our position is very strong,” Coates says. “X Corp. could escalate this distant from the trademark agency and to court, but we are fresh to fight.”