X was spooked enough by new Twitter to change its terms of service

Despite changing its name and using decidedly bird-free branding, X is trying to hold on to its original Twitter trademarks, TechCrunch reports. The xAI-owned social media platform has updated its terms of service to include references to Twitter after previously only mentioning X, and seemingly attempted to counter a startup’s petition to cancel the company’s Twitter trademarks with a petition of its own.

The startup X appears to be responding to is Operation Bluebird, a company cofounded by former Twitter general counsel Stephen Coates that went public last week with plans to capture what remains of Twitter for its own use. The first step in that process was filing a petition with the US Patents and Trademark Office to cancel X’s control of Twitter’s trademarks.

“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,” Operation Bluebird explained in the petition. “Petitioner seeks to use and register the TWITTER and TWEET brands for new products and services, including a social media platform that will be located at the website twitter.new.”

In fairness to Operation Bluebird, Elon Musk was very open about his plan to abandon the Twitter name and bird logo after he acquired the company in 2022. “And soon we shall bid adieu to the twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds,” Musk posted in July 2022, not long before Twitter was rebranded to X. Even after the platform rebranded, though, at least one remnant of the original Twitter brand has stuck around: Twitter.com still redirects to X.com.

The updated terms of service TechCrunch spotted now say that as of 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.” The company’s counterpetition also reiterates that the Twitter trademarks are X’s “exclusive property.”

In a statement to Engadget, Coates said that Operation Bluebird’s cancellation petition was “based on well-established trademark law” and that he believes the upstart will prevail. “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.”

At the time of writing, Operation Bluebird has convinced over 145,200 people to claim a handle on the company’s new social platform. Maybe X sees that early interest as a threat, but it’s just as possible Operation Bluebird’s public comments were enough to tip the company off so it could try to hold on to trademarks it clearly believes still hold some value.

Update, December 16, 2025, 4:13PM PT: This story was updated to add a statement from Stephen Coates.