Twitter Trademarks 'Tweet'
A new report has revealed that in settling a lawsuit, Twitter has finally gained control over the trademark of the word "tweet."
Once a sound reserved for describing the utterances of our feathered friends, "tweeting" has become ubiquitous thanks to the tremendous rise of social microblogging platform Twitter.
A company called Twittad, which provides sponsored advertising on Twitter, technically owns the trademark, thanks to the tagline, "Let your ad meet tweets," among other variations. Twittad and Twitter have been at legal odds over the trademark for years—Twitter suggested that "tweet" was popular because of it before Twittad secured the trademark, but the courts disagreed.
However, the WSJ now reports that this latest settlement should resolve things, with Twittad ceding control of "tweet" to Twitter but keeping its tagline.
Terms of the settlement have yet to be disclosed.
