12 September 2011 | Author: L Boyd Media Intern
Twitter is suing online advertising service Twittad in an attempt to win trademark registration for the word 'tweet'.
Twitter already owns trademarks 'retweet' and 'cotweet', yet were beat to it by third-party developers Twittad, which filed its application for the 'tweet' trademark back in 2008 as part of its strapline, "let your ad meet tweets".
The microblogging site, with over 100 million active users across the globe, has a view to reclaiming the trademark and the lawsuit marks commencement of a fierce battle over who is the rightful owner of the term.
Outlining its reasons for legal action, Twitter said in its lawsuit file that Twittad's use "unfairly exploits the widespread association by the consuming public of the mark TWEET with Twitter, and threatens to block Twitter from its registration and legitimate uses of its own mark."
Third-party developers have long been a thorn in the side of Twitter, not only in terms of trademark issues but also through the development of unique tools that use the site to aid their businesses.
Take, for example, Tweetdeck and the Tweetie iPhone app. Both monetised on the microblogging phenomenon, but also found themselves acquired by Twitter, who continue to snap up other third parties.
Guardian tech blogger Jemima Kiss suggested the lawsuit is about far more than simple terminology for Twitter.
"What this trademark battle is about, though, is not terminology, but about asserting control over interaction with users that ultimately leads to revenue. Would Twitter be using a lawsuit to aggressively pursue a trademark if it was being used by anything other than an advertising company?"
In a direct move, Twitter has suspended Twittad's account for the time being.
Twitter sues Twittad for rights to 'tweet' trademark
Twitter is suing online advertising service Twittad in an attempt to win trademark registration for the word 'tweet'. Twitter already owns trademarks 'retweet' and 'cotweet', yet were beat to it by third-party developers Twittad, which filed its application for the 'tweet' trademark back in 2008 as part of its strapline, "let your ad meet tweets".
The microblogging site, with over 100 million active users across the globe, has a view to reclaiming the trademark and the lawsuit marks commencement of a fierce battle over who is the rightful owner of the term.
Outlining its reasons for legal action, Twitter said in its lawsuit file that Twittad's use "unfairly exploits the widespread association by the consuming public of the mark TWEET with Twitter, and threatens to block Twitter from its registration and legitimate uses of its own mark."
Third-party developers have long been a thorn in the side of Twitter, not only in terms of trademark issues but also through the development of unique tools that use the site to aid their businesses.
Take, for example, Tweetdeck and the Tweetie iPhone app. Both monetised on the microblogging phenomenon, but also found themselves acquired by Twitter, who continue to snap up other third parties.
Guardian tech blogger Jemima Kiss suggested the lawsuit is about far more than simple terminology for Twitter.
"What this trademark battle is about, though, is not terminology, but about asserting control over interaction with users that ultimately leads to revenue. Would Twitter be using a lawsuit to aggressively pursue a trademark if it was being used by anything other than an advertising company?"
In a direct move, Twitter has suspended Twittad's account for the time being.
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