X Corp. Files Lawsuit Against Operation Bluebird Over Twitter's Trademark

X Corp., under Elon Musk's ownership, has initiated a legal action against a startup named Operation Bluebird. This newly announced company plans to revive the Twitter brand for its novel social networking platform. X Corp. contends that Operation Bluebird is making bold moves to expropriate Twitter's trademarks, maintaining that the Twitter brand remains under X Corp.'s ownership.

Recently, Operation Bluebird submitted a request to the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to cancel X Corp.'s trademark claims on 'Twitter' and 'Tweet,' asserting that X Corp. has relinquished its rights and lacks any intention of reusing the trademarks. Concurrently, Operation Bluebird has applied for a new trademark for Twitter as they prepare to launch a platform named Twitter.new.

X Corp. refutes these claims of trademark abandonment, insisting that the public still refers to X as 'Twitter' and mentions 'tweets' as the terminology for message posts. Additionally, several websites continue to feature Twitter's iconic bird as a favicon, signifying linkage to X. According to the lawsuit, by December 11, 2025, over four million users accessed X using the designated domain. The rebranding efforts began last year.

Operation Bluebird's Strategy

Operation Bluebird has already initiated the process of reserving usernames on Twitter.new, an action that X Corp. claims is an attempt to falsely link the startup’s offering with the Twitter brand by mimicking its logo, naming pattern, and color scheme.

The lawsuit argues that Bluebird openly aims to leverage Twitter’s established goodwill and brand reputation, accusing it of picking a name to capitalize on a well-recognized brand valued in billions, rather than choosing from myriad other possibilities.

X Corp. is urging the court to halt Operation Bluebird's usage of any trademarks connected to Twitter. They further implore the USPTO to reject and nullify Bluebird’s trademark application, and seek compensation for damages incurred by what they claim is Bluebird's infringement on their trademarks.

Josh Gerben, a trademark specialist, comments that X Corp. didn't necessarily need to pursue a lawsuit and could have opted to defend their trademark at the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board instead. He highlights that the suit underlines X Corp.'s ongoing attachment to the Twitter brand, even if they initially appeared ready to move past it.

At this time, Operation Bluebird has not issued a response to the lawsuit or provided any statements regarding the allegations.