𝐓𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫’𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐬 𝐓𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐

A US-based technology startup has launched a new social media platform called Twitter.now, reviving the name and bird logo associated with the former Twitter platform despite an ongoing legal dispute with Elon Musk’s X Corporation.

Operation Bluebird, a Virginia-based startup behind the platform, announced the launch on Monday, saying it had decided to move forward after months of waiting for the trademark dispute to progress.

Stephen Coates, a co-founder of Operation Bluebird and the company’s general counsel, said the startup had investors and a working product and was no longer willing to delay its launch.

“We are a small company, we have investors, and we have a product,” Coates told Ars.

“And we have waited months and months to launch, and we are not going to wait anymore.”

The dispute dates back to 2022, when Elon Musk acquired Twitter and changed the company’s name to X.

Operation Bluebird argues that the change meant some of Twitter’s former intellectual property rights, including trademarks associated with the Twitter name, “tweet” and the bird logo, were abandoned.The startup subsequently sought to claim rights to the Twitter-related trademarks.

X Corporation, however, sued Operation Bluebird in late 2025 and asked a federal court in Delaware to stop the company from launching a new service using the Twitter identity.

The case took a new turn during a court hearing in April 2026. US District Court Judge Colm Connolly indicated from the bench that X appeared to have abandoned certain intellectual property claims involving the word “tweet” and the Twitter bird logo.

The judge also raised the possibility that the same could apply to the “Twitter” trademark.However, the judge has not yet issued a written order confirming the tentative ruling.

Coates, who previously served as Twitter’s general counsel before Musk’s takeover, said the company interpreted the judge’s comments as sufficient reason to proceed.

“It’s our opinion that X has abandoned its rights on the Twitter and tweet trademarks,” Coates said.

Operation Bluebird has nevertheless sought to make clear that Twitter.now is a separate company from Musk’s X.

The startup says on its website that it has taken up the Twitter name that it believes X abandoned and is rebuilding the service. It also states that it is “not X” and has no affiliation with X Corporation.

Neither X Corporation, Elon Musk nor X attorney Andrew Mayo had responded to Ars’ requests for comment at the time of publication.

Twitter.now is still in its early stages and has attracted only hundreds of users so far.

The platform resembles the original Twitter in several ways, including features that allow users to reply to posts and repost content.One of its main differences is an automated fact-checking system called Vera.

According to Operation Bluebird, the tool uses Google’s Gemini technology to analyse posts in real time and assess their accuracy.Coates said the company has been testing the system by deliberately publishing statements that are clearly false to see how the technology responds.

The startup says its broader goal is to create a social network that allows people to express themselves while reducing the spread of harmful or inaccurate information.

“Our first goal is to see if we can truly bring back a town square that’s safer and less harmful,” Coates said.

He added:

“We say freedom of speech and not freedom of reach. We want people to say what they want, but we also want to create a platform that’s not financially locked into that viral content that’s harmful or inaccurate.”

Trademark attorney Josh Gerben, who has been following the case, said Operation Bluebird could have a legal argument for claiming that X abandoned the Twitter trademark.

However, he warned that the matter is far from settled.

Gerben described the move as bold and said X Corporation was likely to challenge the startup now that Twitter.now had gone live.

“I would say that there’s an element of chutzpah to do this, and they’re going to get the best fight that X has,” Gerben said.

He added that launching the platform could lead to a stronger response from X.

“It was one thing to file the trademark application; now that they’ve launched, there will be another response from [X Corporation],” he said.

“They’ve really upped the ante now. It’s a really interesting escalation of the case. Go put another round of popcorn in the microwave!”

The launch therefore puts Twitter.now at the centre of an unusual trademark fight: a startup is attempting to bring back a globally recognized social media name while the company that previously owned it continues to dispute the startup’s claims in court.