Twitter’s Ghost Returns: X Fights to Keep the Blue Bird Alive

Just when it seemed the iconic blue bird had been permanently grounded, Twitter is making headlines again — even after being officially renamed X. Elon Musk’s social media company, now owned by his AI venture xAI, is actively defending ownership of Twitter-related trademarks, despite earlier public declarations that the Twitter brand was finished.

The renewed attention follows a report by TechCrunch revealing that X has quietly updated its terms of service to once again reference Twitter. The timing is no coincidence. The move comes amid a legal challenge from a newly formed startup called Operation Bluebird, which wants to revive the Twitter name and claims X has abandoned it.

Operation Bluebird is co-founded by Stephen Coates, a former general counsel at Twitter. The company recently filed a petition with the US Patent and Trademark Office seeking to cancel X’s ownership of the Twitter and Tweet trademarks. In its filing, the startup argues that X has deliberately erased the Twitter brand from its products and communications.

“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 stated. “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.”

From the startup’s perspective, it is simply acting on Musk’s own words and actions. After acquiring Twitter in 2022, Musk made his intentions clear about moving away from the platform’s legacy identity. “And soon we shall bid adieu to the twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds,” Musk wrote in July 2022, shortly before the platform was officially rebranded as X.

Since then, bird logos vanished, the term “tweet” disappeared from official language, and X positioned itself as something far broader than a social media network. Still, not everything was erased. Twitter.com continues to redirect users to X.com — a small but legally significant detail now being scrutinized.

In its updated terms of service, X states 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 has also filed what appears to be a counterpetition, reaffirming that the Twitter trademarks remain its “exclusive property.”

Operation Bluebird remains undeterred. Coates told Engadget that the dispute hinges on basic trademark principles. “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.”

Beyond the legal battle, the nostalgia factor is already drawing attention. More than 145,200 users have reportedly claimed handles on Operation Bluebird’s proposed platform, hinting at lingering affection for the Twitter name.

Whether that interest translates into real competition for X remains uncertain. What is clear, however, is that the blue bird may be gone from the logo — but the fight over its legacy is very much alive.