So Operation Bluebird just launched its “new Twitter.” They’re calling it Twitter.now, claiming Elon Musk’s X abandoned the old name and logo years ago. On paper it’s a clever legal move: point to Musk’s own “bid adieu to the twitter brand” tweet, the full rebrand, the grounded bird, and argue the trademarks went soft. A federal judge even floated some tentative sympathy for parts of that argument earlier this year. Bold.
I’m torn. Part of me likes the pure cheek of it. Trademark law is supposed to reward actual use, not just residual goodwill or redirects from twitter.com. If X really stopped treating “Twitter” as a living brand, maybe someone else should get a shot. Nostalgia is powerful; plenty of people still say “tweet” without thinking and miss the pre-2022 vibe.
But let’s be honest. This feels more like a clever stunt than a serious rival. Bluesky already tried the “Twitter but better” pitch and plateaued. Threads exists. The real problem with X isn’t the name—it’s the culture, the algorithm, the moderation choices, the chaos. Simply slapping the old bird back on a new site doesn’t magically recreate the network effects or the town-square energy people claim to miss. Users follow people and conversations, not logos.
X will almost certainly keep fighting this in court. Even if Bluebird wins some marks, building a platform that matters is the hard part. Investors, moderation tools, and a critical mass of interesting humans don’t appear just because you won a USPTO petition.
Still, competition is healthy. If this forces X to sharpen its product or reminds everyone that brands can be challenged when they’re neglected, good. The bird may try to fly again. Whether it soars or just flaps around for a few months is another story. I’m watching with popcorn, not high expectations.