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X v Project Bluebird Twitter Trademark Ruling

Hacker News •
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This case involves Project Bluebird, a social media service previously named twitter.new and renamed to tweet.app after the ruling. Project Bluebird aims to reimagine the Twitter service that Elon Musk transformed into X. Bluebird claims X has abandoned the TWITTER, TWEET, and Bird Logo trademarks.

In 2025, Bluebird filed ITU applications for TWITTER and TWEET. The court found X hasn't abandoned the TWITTER marks because the Apple App Store listing states "Welcome to X (formerly known as Twitter)," which constitutes evidence of bona fide use. The parenthetical identifies X Corp.'s platform as the Twitter platform being rebranded.

Conversely, the TWEET mark and Bird Logo are likely abandoned as neither appears on the X app listing or x.com home page. X Corp. conceded these marks are nowhere to be found. Musk's pronouncements and the rebranding provide evidence of intent not to resume use.

The court ruled on a preliminary injunction, so final merits remain undecided. However, it is highly likely the TWEET term and bird logo have entered the public domain. For the TWITTER mark, X's ongoing supervision seems dubious, and it may also enter the public domain soon.