A fledgling social media platform has asked the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to cancel trademarks for Twitter so it can take them for itself, contending that billionaire Elon Musk’s X Corp has abandoned them.
The Virginia-based startup, Operation Bluebird, said in its December 2 petition, opens new tab that it wants to be allowed to use “Twitter” and “tweet” for a rival social media platform called “twitter.new.” It also filed an application, opens new tab to trademark “Twitter.”
The petition was filed by Stephen Coates, a former trademark lawyer at Twitter who now serves as Operation Bluebird’s general counsel and runs a small law firm.
Musk bought Twitter in 2022 for $44 billion and rebranded the site to X. Operation Bluebird’s filings contend that X has “eradicated” the Twitter brand from its products, services and marketing.
Musk in 2023 said in a post on X that the company would “bid adieu to the Twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds.”
X did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Coates in a statement called the matter “straightforward” after X allegedly stopped using the Twitter trademark commercially.
“X legally abandoned the TWITTER mark,” Coates said.
The rebranded X does not feature Twitter’s famous blue bird logo, and the platform has migrated from twitter.com, opens new tab to x.com. X Corp’s 2023 renewal registration, opens new tab for the Twitter trademark was approved last year.
Josh Gerben, an intellectual property lawyer who is not involved in the dispute, said X would face obstacles defending its ownership of the trademarks if the company no longer uses them. But he said X could try to block Operation Bluebird’s commercial use of the Twitter name even if the cancellation is successful.
Source: https://www.reuters.com/technology/us-startup-seeks-reclaim-twitter-trademarks-abandoned-by-musks-x-2025-12-08/
