Someone Just Launched a New Twitter as Startup Challenges Elon Musk's Rights to the Name

A new social media platform has launched under the Twitter name and familiar blue-bird branding, more than three years after Musk transformed the original platform, replacing its famous identity with X.

The new service, reportedly called Twitter.now, has been launched by Operation Bluebird, a startup attempting to revive the Twitter brand while challenging X's rights to trademarks associated with the name. The unusual move has quickly attracted attention from people who remember Twitter before Musk's controversial rebrand.

However, claims that Musk simply 'abandoned' the Twitter name are not quite that straightforward. The trademark situation is still being disputed, meaning the new platform's launch does not automatically mean it owns the rights to the original Twitter brand.

Why Is Someone Trying to Bring Twitter Back?

Musk completed his $44 billion (£32.39 billion) takeover of Twitter in October 2022. The billionaire subsequently began making major changes to the social media platform, eventually announcing that Twitter would be replaced by X in July 2023.

The familiar blue bird logo disappeared, the name Twitter was removed from the company's branding and users were encouraged to think of the platform as X instead.

Despite the rebrand, however, the word 'Twitter' never completely disappeared from everyday internet culture. Millions of people continued referring to posts as 'tweets', while phrases associated with the old platform remained common.

Operation Bluebird appears to be attempting to capitalise on that lingering recognition. The company has reportedly argued that X's decision to move away from the Twitter brand created grounds for challenging its trademark rights.

It has pursued action involving trademarks associated with 'Twitter' and 'tweet', while also moving forward with its own platform.

That does not mean a court or trademark authority has definitively ruled that X abandoned all rights to the Twitter name. The dispute remains ongoing, and X has challenged the allegations.

The Blue Bird Returns

Perhaps the most striking element of the new platform is its branding.

Twitter.now reportedly uses a blue bird logo designed to immediately remind users of the social network that existed before Musk's takeover and rebrand. Rather than creating an entirely new identity, the startup appears to be deliberately embracing the visual language that made Twitter one of the most recognisable websites in the world.

That strategy could prove useful when attempting to attract former Twitter users who have become dissatisfied with X or moved to competing platforms.

It also raises an intriguing question: can a brand that was effectively retired by its former owner be successfully resurrected by someone else?

Will There Really Be a New Twitter?

The answer will likely depend on more than whether people recognise the name.

Trademark rights can involve multiple registrations, countries and categories of goods and services. Simply stopping the use of a particular brand does not necessarily mean another company can immediately claim it.

For now, Twitter.now's launch is therefore best viewed as the beginning of a potentially complicated legal and business battle rather than proof that Musk has permanently lost the Twitter name. Still, the symbolism is hard to ignore.

More than three years after Musk turned Twitter into X, another company is attempting to bring back the name, the bird and the identity that millions of users once knew.

For those who never stopped calling X 'Twitter', the new platform could feel like a remarkably familiar sight and a reminder that, on the internet, old brands can sometimes find a way to return.