Elon Musk’s X updated its Terms of Service to assert ownership of the Twitter trademark after Virginia-based startup Operation Bluebird filed a U.S. Patent and Trademark Office application claiming X abandoned the brand by renaming to X.
Operation Bluebird submitted its petition for cancellation on December 2. The filing referenced a post by Musk on July 23, 2023, stating that the social network would soon bid adieu to the Twitter brand. This post served as evidence for the startup’s allegation that X had relinquished rights to the Twitter name through the rebranding process initiated earlier that year.
X responded by filing a countersuit. The company asserts exclusive ownership of the Twitter and Tweet trademarks along with the bluebird logo. A copy of this filing was provided to TechCrunch by IP trademark law firm Gerben IP. As of publication, the countersuit had not yet appeared in the Public Access to Court Electronic Records system, known as PACER.
Following its USPTO petition, Operation Bluebird launched a website at Twitter.new to collect potential user sign-ups for a new social network. The initiative is led by two lawyers: Michael Peroff, the founder based in Illinois, and Stephen Coates, who previously worked as a trademark lawyer at Twitter. Peroff established Operation Bluebird, while Coates brings direct experience from his time handling trademarks for the original Twitter platform.
X incorporated explicit language into its revised Terms of Service to address the trademark challenge. Effective January 15, 2026, the 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, and you may not do so without our express written consent.
Prior versions of the Terms referenced only X in this section, with no mention of Twitter. The update ensures users acknowledge X’s claim to both brands. The revised document also contains other changes, such as references to European Union laws and provisions related to generated content.
