The group behind the platform includes Stephen Coates, a former lawyer who was responsible for protecting trademarks at the original Twitter before the company was acquired and later rebranded as X under Elon Musk.
Last year, Elon Musk’s company X sued Operation Bluebird in an attempt to block the launch of the new platform. Operation Bluebird defended itself by arguing that X had legally abandoned some of the well-known terms associated with the former Twitter brand, including “Twitter” and “Tweet,” opening the door for others to use them.
The legal dispute has since been considered by a federal court in Delaware, which recently issued a ruling concerning the use of trademarks claimed by both X and Operation Bluebird.
The new company had initially planned to operate under the name Twitter.now. However, the judge barred Operation Bluebird from using the name “Twitter,” which had previously been used by the company now known as X. The court also granted X the right to protect eight specific trademarks.
However, Operation Bluebird scored a significant victory after the judge allowed it to use the famous blue bird logo and the word “tweet.” The ruling suggested that X may have abandoned its legal rights to those trademarks after changing the company’s name and identity.
Following the court decision, Operation Bluebird changed the name of its application from Twitter.now to Tweet.app, which is now available for public use.
To register and secure a username on the new platform, users are required to pay $20. The company says the money will help cover its legal expenses as it continues its battle over trademarks.
Even before the official launch of the application, more than 172,000 people had already requested usernames. This has been seen as an indication that the old Twitter identity and terminology remain popular among many users.
One of the company’s founders said the word “tweet” has continued to be widely used over the past three years, despite efforts by X to replace it with new terminology. According to him, many people simply refused to abandon the word.
The legal battle is not yet over. In the coming days, the court is expected to make a final decision on the ownership and legal rights surrounding other remaining trademarks disputed by X and Operation Bluebird.
The case highlights the continuing influence of Twitter’s former identity, even years after Elon Musk renamed the platform X. It also raises broader questions about whether a company can completely abandon a globally recognised brand and later prevent others from using parts of its former identity.
