Josh Gerben, a trademark attorney with Gerben Intellectual Property, has suggested the company formerly known as Twitter could spend upward of $100 million in dealing with litigation as a result of the X rebranding.
In a July 25 X thread, Gerben predicted that lawsuits against X related to trademark infringement could appear in United States courtrooms “in the next few weeks,” with legal problems on the international stage likely to be a “very big issue” for years. U.S.-based companies including Microsoft and Meta already own similar “X” trademarks for different products and services, and many others may have grounds for a lawsuit against X.
“To cast aside an asset this valuable [the blue bird] in favor of a new trademark is unprecedented in history,” said Gerben. “If Elon had stuck with the Twitter brand, his company would likely not spend a dime to justify its Twitter trademark on just about anything he wanted to do with the brand.”
Former Twitter CEO Elon Musk announced the rebranding would be taking place on July 23, with the company’s iconic blue bird being replaced by a black and white “X” logo. X Corp is the parent company of Twitter, established by Musk in March. The platform’s search bar still bears its former namesake at the time of publication, as does the blue “tweet” button and retweet counter.
Many on the platform have criticized the rebranding as not well thought out. Musk himself was unable to provide a definitive answer as to the new name of a retweet in a July 24 thread. He has also hinted that users should expect to conduct their “entire financial world” on the X platform with plans to offer services affecting “half of the global financial system.”
The move is the latest controversy by one of the biggest social media platforms in the world. Musk took over Twitter in October 2022 following a $44 billion agreement, later firing members of the company’s executive team and phasing out the platform’s legacy verification system — blue checkmarks — in favor of various paid options.
Though Musk briefly changed the Twitter logo to that of the Dogecoin (DOGE) shiba inu in April, many on the platform speculated at the time that the decision was only temporary. For the rebranding to X, the company’s logo on its brick-and-mortar headquarters in San Francisco may soon change from a bird to a letter:
After 17 years with the iconic blue bird logo, billionaire Elon Musk had the Twitter sign removed from the San Francisco, California headquarters as the social media company rebrands to X. https://t.co/ZJdgeOV3uVpic.twitter.com/UIie1S5T1j
Under Musk, U.S. advertising revenue for Twitter reportedly dropped roughly 59% from April to May compared to that over the same period in 2022. Former NBCUniversal exec Linda Yaccarino took over as CEO in May, while Musk continues to actively post on the social media site.
Canterbury MP Rosie Duffield has resigned from the Labour Party.
The 53-year-old MP is the first to jump ship since the general election and in her resignation letter criticised the prime minister for accepting thousands of pounds worth of gifts.
She told Sir Keir Starmer the reason for leaving now is “the programme of policies you seem determined to stick to”, despite their unpopularity with the electorate and MPs.
In her letter she accused the prime minister and his top team of “sleaze, nepotism and apparent avarice” which are “off the scale”.
“I’m so ashamed of what you and your inner circle have done to tarnish and humiliate our once proud party,” she said.
Since December 2019, the prime minister received £107,145 in gifts, benefits, and hospitality – a specific category in parliament’s register of MPs’ interests.
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Ms Duffield, who has previously clashed with the prime minister on gender issues, attacked the government for pursuing “cruel and unnecessary” policies as she resigned the Labour whip.
She criticised the decision to keep the two-child benefit cap and means-test the winter fuel payment, and accused the prime minister of “hypocrisy” over his acceptance of free gifts from donors.
“Since the change of government in July, the revelations of hypocrisy have been staggering and increasingly outrageous,” she said.
“I cannot put into words how angry I and my colleagues are at your total lack of understanding about how you have made us all appear.”
Ms Duffield also mentioned the recent “treatment of Diane Abbott”, who said she thought she had been barred from standing by Labour ahead of the general election, before Sir Keir said she would be allowed to defend her Hackney North and Stoke Newington seat for the party.
Her relationship with the Labour leadership has long been strained and her decision to quit the party comes after seven other Labour MPs were suspended for rebelling by voting for a motion calling for the two-child benefit cap to be abolished.
“Someone with far-above-average wealth choosing to keep the Conservatives’ two-child limit to benefit payments which entrenches children in poverty, while inexplicably accepting expensive personal gifts of designer suits and glasses costing more than most of those people can grasp – this is entirely undeserving of holding the title of Labour prime minister,” she said.
Ms Duffield said she will continue to represent her constituents as an independent MP, “guided by my core Labour values”.