Despite changing its name and using a bird-free logo, X is trying to stick to its original Twitter logo, TechCrunch reports. The social network owned by xAI has updated its terms of service to include a reference to Twitter after previously speaking about X, and it appears that it has tried to oppose the startup’s request to cancel the company’s Twitter trademarks at its request.
IX appears to be responding to Operation Bluebird, a company founded by Twitter’s former general counsel Stephen Coates that went public last week with plans to capture what’s left of Twitter for its own use. The first step in that process was to apply to the US Patents and Trademark Office to cancel X’s control of the Twitter trademarks.
“The TWITTER and TWET brands have been removed from X Corp.’s products, services and marketing, leaving behind a popular brand, with no intention of re-branding,” Operation Bluebird explained in the petition. “The applicant wants to use and register the brands TWITTER and TWET for new products and services, including social media that will be on the website. twitter.new.”
In fairness to Operation Bluebird, Elon Musk was very open about his plan to leave the Twitter name and bird logo after acquiring the company in 2022. “And soon we will say adieu to the twitter brand and, little by little, all the birds,” Musk posted in July 2022, not long before Twitter was rebranded as X. Even after the single Twitter brand was rebranded. has stuck: Twitter.com still redirects to X.com.
Revised Terms of Service TechCrunch seen now says that as of January 16, 2025, “nothing in the Terms gives you the right to use the X name or the 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 written consent.” The company’s opposition also insists that Twitter’s trademarks are the “exclusive property” of X.
In a statement sent to Engadget, Coates said that the request to cancel Operation Bluebird is “based on well-established trademark law” and that he believes the initiative will succeed. “UX legally abandoned the TWITTER mark, publicly declared the Twitter name ‘dead,’ and spent considerable resources establishing a new brand identity. Our cancellation request is based on well-founded trademark law and we believe we will prevail. Goodbye. We say goodbye.”
At the time of writing, Operation Bluebird has convinced more than 145,200 people to claim a handle on the company’s new social media platform. Perhaps X sees that initial interest as a threat, but it’s possible that the public comments of Operation Bluebird were enough to sway the company to try to hold on to trademarks it clearly believes still hold some value.
Update, December 16, 2025, 4:13PM PT: This story has been updated to add a statement from Stephen Coates.
