Musk's X countersues a start-up claiming 'Twitter' trademark
What's the story
Elon Musk's social media platform X has updated its terms of service to reaffirm its ownership of the "Twitter" trademark. The update comes after a Virginia-based start-up, Operation Bluebird, filed an application to trademark the term "Twitter." The start-up claims that X had abandoned the brand by rebranding its social networking service as "X." In response to Operation Bluebird's claim, X has filed a countersuit.
Legal
What did X say?
X maintains that it continues to exclusively own the Twitter and Tweet trademarks as well as the bluebird logo. This legal battle was revealed through a filing shared with TechCrunch by IP trademark law firm Gerben IP.
New venture
Operation Bluebird's plans for a rival social network
Since filing its cancellation petition, Operation Bluebird has been gathering potential user sign-ups for its own social network at Twitter.new. The initiative is led by two lawyers, founder Michael Peroff from Illinois and Stephen Coates, a former trademark lawyer at Twitter. Their backgrounds raise questions about their intention to launch a new service to compete with X; it seems more likely they want to acquire the valuable trademark.
Policy update
X's revised terms of service address trademark rights
To avoid any potential misuse, X has updated its terms of service, effective January 15, 2026. The new terms state: "Nothing in the Terms gives you a right to use the X name or Twitter name or any of the X or Twitter trademarks, logos, domain names, other distinctive brand features, and other proprietary rights." Previously, these terms only mentioned "X" without any reference to "Twitter."