A startup is trying to legally take Twitter back from Elon Musk

The US startup Operation Bluebird has filed an official petition with the US Patent and Trademark Office seeking to cancel X Corp.’s rights to the “Twitter” and “tweet” trademarks, Ars Technica reports.

The founders argue that Elon Musk’s company has effectively abandoned the brands. According to the petition, all references to Twitter and Tweet have been removed from X Corp.’s products and marketing materials, and the current owner has shown no intention of resuming their use. As supporting evidence, the filing cites Musk’s own statement from July 2023 in which he publicly bid farewell to the Twitter brand.

If the USPTO grants the request, Operation Bluebird plans to launch a new social network at twitter.new, potentially as soon as late next year. The team has already built a functioning prototype where users can reserve usernames.

The startup was founded by attorneys Michael Peroff and Stephen Coates, the latter being the former chief legal officer of the original Twitter. Their goal is to bring back Twitter’s iconic branding and atmosphere, with a particular focus on stronger moderation — a strategy they hope will attract advertisers who left X over concerns about toxic content.

Intellectual property experts note that X Corp. could face real challenges defending its claim. Under US trademark law, when a company publicly renames a service and removes the old branding from its site, the argument that the mark has been abandoned becomes significantly stronger.