A judge stopped X's competitor from using the Twitter name, but let them use "Tweet" for now.

A federal court in Delaware made a decision in a legal battle between Elon Musk's X and a startup called Operation Bluebird, which wanted to create a competing social media platform. Originally, the startup used the name Twitter. Now, the court ruled against them, saying they couldn't use the name "Twitter" because X had trademarked it. However, the court also found that X had likely stopped using two other trademarks: the word "tweet" and the Twitter bird logo. This means those trademarks are now free for others to use.

Operation Bluebird changed its website name to Tweet.app and started offering the service to the public. The startup isn't really focused on creating something new; they're more interested in picking up on trademarks that X no longer uses. The homepage clearly states that their goal is to reclaim what Elon Musk left behind when he renamed the platform to X and "threw the bird away on his way out."

The project is led by two lawyers, Michael Peroff from Illinois and Stephen Coates, who previously worked as a trademark lawyer at Twitter.

Given their legal background, it seems unlikely they're really interested in building a new social network. More likely, they want to acquire the unused trademarks, which have their own value.

Tweet.app is actively testing its service and has already received over 172,000 requests for handles before launching. This interest is probably because people still like the name "Twitter," even though the startup can't use it. The company is charging users $20 to reserve their handle, which is likely helping cover legal costs.

It's important to note that the court's decision isn't final. Judge Colm F.Connolly ruled that X can stop Operation Bluebird from using certain trademarks, including the word "Tweet" and the bird logo, but not all. The judge believed Bluebird was likely to show that X no longer uses these trademarks and has no intention of using them again.

The case will continue to determine whether X still owns any of the Twitter trademarks, considering the company now uses the name X in most places.

Stephen Coates, who is the president of Operation Bluebird, wrote that "a tweet was never a corporation.It's one person saying something." He said the word "tweet" survived even after X tried to replace it, showing that the public still values it. He believes this proves who the word belongs to.

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