The micro-blogging platform Twitter has secured the rights to the trademark for the word ‘Tweet’, and has subsequently dropped its trademark infringement lawsuit against marketing company Twittad.
Twittad, a service designed to help members of Twitter get paid for tweeting ads, had previously applied for and received the trademark for the phrase ‘Let Your Ad Meet Tweets’.
However, Twitter believed that the use of the word ‘Tweet’ was most associated with its own service, despite the fact that the micro-blogging website itself had been denied a trademark for the word in April 2009. At the time, three prior applications had been made to the US Patent and Trademark Office which contained the word ‘tweet’.
Twitter challenged Twittad for the trademark in a lawsuit, but this has now been dropped as Twittad has agreed to give the trademark for the word to Twitter.
A spokesperson for Twitter, Lynne Fox, explained what had happened, saying:
“We’ve arrived at a resolution with Twittad that recognizes consistent use of Tweet while supporting the continued success of Twitter ecosystems.”
It is hoped that Twittad, along with Twitter, had sufficient professional insurance in place to cover the expenses of this short-lived, but nonetheless costly, legal wrangle.