Court blocks rival app from using Twitter name

A Delaware judge just blocked a rival app from calling itself Twitter, as long as X posts a $500,000 bond. Chief Judge Colm F. Connolly of the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware issued the memorandum opinion on 3 September 2026 in X Corp. v. Operation Bluebird, Inc., case 1:25-cv-01510-CFC, Document 95.

The order grants part of X Corp.'s motion for a preliminary injunction and denies the rest. Bluebird cannot use the Twitter-formative marks until the case is resolved, if the bond is posted under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 65(c). X asked for $500,000. Bluebird argued for at least $50 million. The court set $500,000. The motion is denied as to the Tweet mark and the bird logo.

The Twitter-name holding turns on the Apple App Store listing. It still says "Welcome to X (formerly known as Twitter)" in the same font and size as the rest of the description. Legal director Naser Baseer testified X added that parenthetical so people searching for Twitter would find the X app. Connolly treated that line as bona fide use that makes abandonment of the Twitter-formative marks unlikely to be strictly proved at this stage. He did not decide whether twitter.com redirecting to x.com is also bona fide use.

Bluebird is likely to strictly prove that X discontinued bona fide use of Tweet and the bird logo and intends not to resume. Musk's July 2023 lines about bidding adieu to the Twitter brand and cutting birds off the building were compelling evidence of that intent. Bluebird had filed intent-to-use PTO applications for TWITTER and TWEET on 2 December 2025, plus Bird logo applications, and launched on twitter.new.

After the order, Ars Technica reported Operation Bluebird rebranded toward Tweet.App. President Stephen Coates said, "They kept the word. They let go of the bird, and they let go of the tweet." About 172,000 users had already requested handles. TechCrunch notes the ruling is preliminary and the merits still have to be tried.

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