Industry Brief: X was spooked enough by fresh Twitter to change its terms of service

{"title": "X Revises Service Agreement to Safeguard Twitter Trademarks Following Startup's Legal Move", "body": ["Even after rebranding without birds and adopting a fresh identity, X is working to retain its longstanding Twitter trademarks, according to TechCrunch. The social network, now under xAI's ownership, has revised its terms of service to incorporate mentions of Twitter alongside X, having previously referenced only the latter. This change seems aimed at addressing a challenge from a rival firm through a competing filing of its own."], ["The entity prompting this response is Operation Bluebird, established by ex-Twitter legal chief Stephen Coates, which recently launched publicly with intentions to repurpose elements of the old Twitter. Their initial action involved submitting a request to the United States Patent and Trademark Office to revoke X's ownership of the Twitter trademarks."], ["Operation Bluebird's filing argues that the TWITTER and TWEET labels have been removed entirely from X Corp.'s offerings, operations, and promotions, amounting to abandonment of the iconic name with no plans for revival. The company aims to adopt and secure these marks for innovative offerings, such as a social network hosted at twitter.new."], ["To Operation Bluebird's credit, Elon Musk had been forthright about phasing out the Twitter name and avian symbol following his 2022 purchase of the firm. In a July 2022 post, Musk stated, 'And soon we shall bid adieu to the twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds,' shortly before the shift to X. Despite the overhaul, one holdover persists: the Twitter.com domain continues to forward users to X.com."], ["The modified terms of service, as noted by TechCrunch, stipulate that starting January 16, 2025, '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, and you may not do so without our express written consent.' X's rebuttal filing also affirms that the Twitter trademarks remain solely under its control."], ["Engadget received a comment from Coates asserting that Operation Bluebird's revocation request rests on solid trademark principles and that he anticipates victory. '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 believe we will be successful. They said goodbye. We say hello.'"], ["Currently, Operation Bluebird has garnered more than 145,200 individuals to reserve usernames on its emerging social site. While X might view this budding traction as a risk, it's equally plausible that the startup's announcements alerted X to potential issues, prompting efforts to secure trademarks it evidently still deems worthwhile."], ["Update, December 16, 2025, 4:13PM PT: This article now includes a quote from Stephen Coates."]}