According to Wired, a Virginia startup called Operation Bluebird filed a formal petition with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office this week, asking it to cancel X Corporation’s trademarks on the words “Twitter” and “tweet.” The group, led by Illinois attorney Michael Peroff and former Twitter general counsel Stephen Coates, argues Elon Musk abandoned the iconic brand when he rebranded the company to X in 2023. They cite Musk’s own July 2023 tweet where he said, “we shall bid adieu to the twitter brand, and gradually, all the birds.” If successful, the group plans to launch a social network named Twitter.new, possibly by late 2025, and has already created a working prototype where users can reserve handles. Neither X Corporation nor Elon Musk responded to requests for comment on the legal action.
The Legal Long Shot
Here’s the thing: this is a wildly ambitious legal gambit. Peroff, who specializes in trademark law, is essentially arguing that by publicly killing the Twitter brand and replacing it with X, Musk has legally “abandoned” the trademarks. You can read their full petition to the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board if you want the dense details. The core of their case hinges on proving X has no intent to use the “Twitter” mark in commerce anymore. But is that true? The app is still called “X (formerly Twitter)” on some app stores, and the URL twitter.com still redirects to X.com. X’s lawyers will undoubtedly argue those are evidence of continued use and transition, not abandonment. It’s a fascinating, high-stakes argument that could take years to resolve.
More Than Just a Name
But this isn’t just a lawyer’s intellectual exercise. The emotional pitch behind Operation Bluebird is about reclaiming a lost digital town square. Coates talks about missing the magic of the old platform, where you could have celebrities react to your Super Bowl tweets. Peroff argues that none of the current alternatives—Threads, Mastodon, Bluesky—have the scale or brand recognition to host a true national conversation. Their bet is that the name “Twitter” itself holds immense power. It’s a nostalgia play, pure and simple. They’re betting that for millions of people, “Twitter” means something that “X” or “Bluesky” never will. You can see their placeholder site at twitter.new.
Musk’s Own Words as Ammo
And the funniest part? Operation Bluebird’s best evidence might be Elon Musk’s own posts. That July 2023 tweet where he bids “adieu” to the bird is a central exhibit. In trademark law, a registrant’s own statements can absolutely be used to show intent to abandon a mark. Musk, never one to mince words, may have handed them a perfect soundbite. It creates a hilarious scenario where Musk’s impulsive, definitive pronouncements come back to haunt him in a formal legal setting. I mean, can you imagine the TTAB judges scrolling through his tweet history as part of the official record?
What Happens Next?
So what does this actually look like moving forward? First, X Corp. will have to respond to the petition. Then begins a long process of discovery, briefs, and possibly a hearing. It’s a slow grind. Even if Operation Bluebird wins at the TTAB, X would certainly appeal. Realistically, we’re talking about a multi-year battle. In the meantime, they’re building a prototype and collecting handle reservations. It’s a “build it and they will come” strategy, but with a massive legal “if” hanging over the whole project. Basically, they’re trying to resurrect a ghost. And whether that ghost has any substance left, or if it’s just a memory people are romanticizing, is the billion-dollar question.
