Is Twitter still alive? Elon Musk-led Ax says yes after startup bids for brand
Elon Musk’s social media company X is struggling to maintain the Twitter trademark despite a rebranding. A new startup, Operation Bluebird, challenges X’s ownership with the aim of revitalizing the Twitter brand.
Just when you thought the little blue bird had flown away forever, it’s back in the spotlight. Despite renaming itself the
According to a report from TechCrunch, X, which is now owned by Musk’s AI company xAI, has quietly updated its terms of service to reintroduce references to Twitter. The move comes as the company moves against a startup that wants to reclaim the Twitter name and bring it back to life.
That startup is Operation Bluebird, a newly formed company co-founded by former Twitter general counsel Stephen Coates. Last week, Operation Bluebird went public with plans to take over the remains of the Twitter brand for its own future products. Its initial step was to file a petition with the US Patent and Trademark Office to revoke X’s ownership of Twitter’s trademark.
“The Twitter and Tweet brands have been removed from X Corp’s products, services and marketing, effectively abandoning the old brand, and there are no intentions to resume using this brand,” Operation Bluebird said in its filing. “Petitioner wishes to use and register the TWITTER and TWEET brands for new products and services, including a social media platform that will be located on the website twitter.new.”
A brand that Musk said goodbye to
From an Operation Bluebird perspective, this follows the path outlined by Musk himself. After acquiring Twitter in 2022, Musk made little effort to hide his desire to move beyond the platform’s core identity.
“And soon we will say goodbye to the Twitter brand, and slowly, goodbye to all the birds,” Musk posted in July 2022.
Nevertheless, not every trace of the past disappeared. Twitter.com still redirects to X.com, a digital fossil that suggests the company never completely abandoned its former form. Now, it appears that that long-standing relationship has taken on legal significance.
The updated terms of service, seen by TechCrunch, state that as of January 16, 2025, “Nothing in the Terms gives you the right to use the
X has also filed a counterclaim, which strengthens its claim that the Twitter trademarks remain its “exclusive property.” In other words, even though the bird has disappeared from the logo, the company says the nest is still with it.
Operation Bluebird Counterattack
However, Operation Bluebird is not backing down. In a statement to Engadget, Coates argued that the case is based directly on trademark law and that X has already forfeited its rights.
“X legally abandoned the Twitter mark, publicly declared the Twitter brand ‘dead’, and spent substantial resources establishing a new brand identity. Our cancellation petition is based on well-established trademark law and we are confident we will be successful. They say goodbye. We say hello.”
The startup’s ambitions extend beyond court victories. It has already attracted the attention of nostalgic users wishing to reclaim a familiar name. At the time of writing, more than 145,200 people have claimed a handle on Operation Bluebird’s proposed new social platform.
It is unclear whether the initial interest represents a real competitive threat to X. It is equally possible that the very public challenge of Operation Bluebird was enough to motivate X to take action, strengthening its legal position around trademarks it is no longer willing to surrender.
