X updates its terms, files countersuit for ‘Twitter’ trademark after newcomer challenge

Elon Musk’s X updates its terms of service to indicate that it still claims the “Twitter” trademark. The move to add these details to the company’s terms comes on the heels of an announcement from a Virginia-based startup, which recently filed to trademark the term “Twitter.”

The startup, Operation Bluebird, claims that X has abandoned the “Twitter” branding by renaming its social networking service to “X.” In the petition it filed with the US Patent and Trademark Office on December 2, the startup pointed to a post from owner

X is now challenging that claim with a countersuit of its own. (A copy of the filing was shared with TechCrunch via trademark law firm Gerben IP, and has not yet appeared in PACER as of press time.) In the filing, X says it still exclusively owns the Twitter and Tweet trademarks and the Bluebird logo.

Since filing its petition for repeal, Operation Bluebird has been collecting registrations from potential users of its private social network on a website called Twitter.new. The effort is being led by two lawyers, including founder Michael Beroff, who is based in Illinois, and Stephen Coates, a former trademark attorney at Twitter. Given their background, their assertion that they are planning to launch a new service to rival X seems questionable. They are more likely to want the brand, which has its own value.

However, X does not take his chances. The revised Terms of Service, effective January 15, 2026, provide that:

Nothing in the Terms grants you the right to use the X Name, the Twitter Name, or any of the

Previously, terms only referred to X in this section. There was no mention of Twitter.

The Terms also include other, more minor updates, including references regarding EU laws and generated content. X’s privacy policy has also been updated with two references to Lifetime Guarantee technology.

This article was updated with a link to the countersuit after its initial publication.