By TheDailyNewsHub
Elon Musk’s X Corp. has secured a preliminary court victory in its trademark battle with Operation Bluebird, a startup attempting to revive the Twitter brand with a new social media platform.
A federal judge in Delaware has ordered Operation Bluebird to stop using the “Twitter” name and several related Twitter trademarks, dealing a setback to the company’s attempt to launch a new social network under the iconic name.
However, the ruling was not a complete victory for Musk’s X.
US District Judge Colm Connolly issued a split decision, finding that X was likely to succeed in protecting the “Twitter” trademark but also concluding that X Corp. had likely abandoned its rights to the “Tweet” trademark and the former Twitter bird logo.
Operation Bluebird changes name to Tweet.app
Following the ruling, Operation Bluebird quickly changed the name of its platform from Twitter.now to Tweet.app.
The startup announced the rebranding on September 4, saying it would comply with the court’s order concerning the Twitter name while continuing its legal fight over the trademark.
Operation Bluebird President and General Counsel Stephen Coates welcomed the portion of the ruling concerning “Tweet” and the bird logo.
The startup said its existing users would retain their handles, membership numbers and other account details despite the name change.
Why did the judge allow ‘Tweet’?
The dispute began after Elon Musk acquired Twitter for approximately $44 billion in 2022 and subsequently rebranded the social media platform as X.
Operation Bluebird argued that X had effectively abandoned the Twitter-related trademarks by eliminating the Twitter name, bird logo and terminology such as “tweet” from its branding.
X Corp. disputed that argument and sued the startup in Delaware, maintaining that the Twitter brand remained legally protected.
In his latest ruling, Judge Connolly distinguished between the Twitter name and the Tweet mark and bird logo.
The judge pointed to Musk’s own public statements during the 2023 rebranding, including his declaration that the company would “bid adieu” to the Twitter brand and gradually eliminate the birds. The court found that such statements provided evidence that X did not intend to resume using the “Tweet” mark and bird logo.
X still retains the Twitter name—for now
The ruling means Operation Bluebird cannot continue using Twitter as the name of its new social media platform while the litigation continues.
The judge found that X had not abandoned the Twitter name entirely. One factor was X’s continued reference to Twitter in the Apple App Store, where the X application is described as “X (formerly known as Twitter).”
The court also considered the continued public recognition and commercial goodwill associated with the Twitter name.
As a result, X Corp. was granted a preliminary injunction preventing Operation Bluebird from using the Twitter name.
The case is not over
Despite the latest ruling, the legal battle between the two companies is far from finished.
The court’s decision was a ruling on X Corp.’s request for a preliminary injunction, rather than a final determination of all trademark rights in the case. The broader dispute over the ownership and abandonment of the Twitter trademarks remains ongoing.
Operation Bluebird has therefore been forced to abandon the Twitter name for its platform for now, but it has gained an important legal opening to use the “Tweet” name and former Twitter bird logo.
The startup says its new platform, Tweet.app, is now live as it continues its effort to build a social network independent of Musk’s X.
The development marks an unusual twist in the story of one of the world’s most recognisable social-media brands: Musk’s X has successfully defended the Twitter name, while the word “tweet” and the famous bird logo have emerged as the unexpected winners of the legal battle—at least for now.
TheDailyNewsHub will continue to follow the trademark dispute as the case progresses.