Twitter.New Aims to Revive the Social Media Platform. Will Elon Musk Allow It?
Two lawyers are mounting an effort to resurrect Twitter, starting with a petition to reclaim the trademark from Elon Musk’s X.The effort is led by Stephen Coates, a former lawyer for Twitter before Musk’s takeover, and trademark attorney Michael Peroff. Together, they’ve founded a startup called “Operation Bluebird” to revive the social media platform, which Musk rebranded as X. Although Bluesky, Threads, and Mastodon have tried to fill the void as Twitter alternatives, Peroff told Ars Technica that none have gained the brand recognition that Twitter once had. “This isn’t about nostalgia. It’s about repairing what broke—because the public square is worth fighting for,” Coates added on LinkedIn.To duo has launched Twitter.new, where interested users can reserve their Twitter handle, assuming the startup successfully secures control of the trademarks. The same site also accuses X of burning down the “town square” that Twitter previously achieved. (Credit: Twitter.New)“We are bringing it back, this time with trust,” the site adds.Last week, the pair formally filed a 105-page petition with the US Patent and Trademark Office, claiming X abandoned the trademarks for both “Twitter” and “Tweet.” Peroff is also indicating that he has spent nearly two years preparing to wage the trademark battle. “The TWITTER and TWEET brands have been eradicated from X Corp.’s products, services and marketing, effectively abandoning the storied brand, with no intention to resume use of the mark,” Coates wrote in the petition, which points to various evidence about X dumping the bird branding. “The TWITTER bird was grounded.”The petition adds that the goal is to reuse the Twitter and Tweet trademarks for a new social media site at Twitter.new. The attorneys have also said that another priority is to reinstate more content moderation, as X has been accused of fueling misinformation and scams by allegedly scaling back its safeguards and verification systems to promote free speech. “I do think there can be a safer place for brands to advertise in a digital town square,” Coates said in a separate LinkedIn post. X didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. But the law firm Gerben IP says there's "a high probability" the petition could be successful since it appears X has gone out of its way to distance itself from the Twitter name. In October, for example, X moved to retire the Twitter.com domain by having people re-enroll their 2FA hardware keys."X Corp has until early February to file an Answer to the Petition to Cancel," Gerben IP said. But it's possible Musk could sue Operation Bluebird "for trademark infringement even without active registrations, because the public still identifies Twitter with X Corp.""That said, litigation is expensive. So the question becomes, will Elon Musk spend money [potentially millions of dollars] to protect a brand he already abandoned?" Gerben IP added.
