Delaware Judge Blocks Operation Bluebird From Using “Twitter” Name in X Dispute

Court splits X vs Bluebird

A Delaware federal judge issued a mixed trademark ruling in the dispute between Elon Musk’s X and the Virginia-based startup Operation Bluebird, temporarily blocking the rival from using the name “Twitter” while denying X’s bid to block the Twitter bird logo.

U.S. District Judge Colm Connolly said X was likely to prove Operation Bluebird’s use of the Twitter name could cause confusion and infringe trademark rights, rejecting the startup’s argument that X had abandoned its rights to the mark after Musk renamed the platform following a $44 billion acquisition in 2022.

Connolly also said X had abandoned its rights to the word “Tweet” and Twitter’s blue bird logo, citing Musk’s statements that X would “bid adieu” to “all the birds” and “cut the Twitter logo off the building with blow torches.”

Operation Bluebird told Reuters it would comply with the order and launch “tweet.app” later on Thursday, after the court’s split decision left the “Tweet” mark and bird logo available for now.

The case is X Corp v. Operation Bluebird Inc, U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, No. 1:25-cv-01510, as Reuters reported on Sept 3.

Reporting for this sectionReuters

App Store clause and quotes

Reuters reported that Connolly found X likely to succeed on trademark infringement and dilution claims tied to the platform’s former name, with the judge’s reasoning anchored in X’s continued use of the Twitter name in the current listing for the X app in Apple’s App Store. In that App Store listing, Connolly highlighted the first sentence stating, “Welcome to X (formerly known as Twitter),” and he said X’s legal director Naser Baseer testified that the clause was added “to ensure that people who were searching for the Twitter app within the App Store” would find the correct link. TechCrunch described the court’s split as blocking Operation Bluebird from using the core “Twitter” trademark while finding X had likely abandoned two other related trademarks: the word “tweet” and the Twitter bird logo.

After the ruling, Operation Bluebird rebranded its website as Tweet.app and launched to the public, and TechCrunch reported that more than 172,000 people requested a handle on the site before launch. TechCrunch also reported that the startup charged users $20 to reserve their handle, and it noted that the court’s decision was “not final,” with the case set to proceed on whether X retains rights to other Twitter marks.

Reporting for this sectionArs TechnicaTechCrunch

What happens next for brands

The ruling leaves Operation Bluebird able to lean on the “Tweet” branding while it is blocked from using “Twitter,” and Reuters said the judge granted X a preliminary injunction that would block Bluebird from using the Twitter word marks during the case.

TechCrunch quoted Stephen Coates, president of Operation Bluebird, saying, “They kept the word. They let go of the bird, and they let go of the tweet,” in an announcement about the rebrand shared via email with TechCrunch.

TechCrunch also reported that Operation Bluebird originally launched under the name Twitter.now, but the court barred it from using that name, siding with X on the core “Twitter” trademark.

Reuters reported that Operation Bluebird had asked the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in December to cancel X’s federal “Twitter” trademarks, arguing the company had abandoned them, and that X sued later that month asserting its Twitter brand was “alive and well” and “not ripe for the picking.”

As the litigation proceeds, the court will have to determine whether X retains rights to other Twitter trademarks following the company’s rebranding, while Operation Bluebird’s next steps include launching “tweet.app” after the order.

Reporting for this sectionTechCrunchReuters