Twitter settles lawsuit to get 'tweet' trademark

Micro-blogging site Twitter moved a step closer to securing a trademark for "Tweet" after settling a lawsuit with a firm engaged in sponsored ads for Twitter. The Wall Street Journal reported Twitter would drop a lawsuit against Twittad if Twittad transferred its registered "tweet" trademark to Twitter. “We’ve arrived at a resolution with Twittad that recognizes consistent use of Tweet while supporting the continued success of Twitter ecosystem partners like Twittad," it quoted Twitter spokeswoman Lynn Fox as saying in a statement. According to Twittad CEO James Eliason, Twitter would restore Twittad’s account on Twitter so that it can resume business. The WSJ report said Twittad helps a network of 27,000 other Twitter users to get paid to tweet advertisements on Twitter. Eliason, who runs other Web start-ups, also said Twittad would continue to use its original tagline: “Let your ad meet tweets." But Eliason declined to say whether Twitter paid Twittad, citing a confidentiality agreement between the companies. Earlier, Twitter argued that “tweet" was already “famous" as a Twitter term before rivals filed trademark applications and that Twitter is the rightful owner. The suit added another company’s getting the tweet-related trademark “threatens to block Twitter from its registration and legitimate uses of its own mark." But the US Patent and Trademark Office twice suspended Twitter’s own attempts beginning in April 2009 to trademark the term. “The moral of the story is to make sure you trademark and patent-protect everything," said Eliason, 32. A separate article on tech site CNET said Twitter originally filed for the trademark in April 2009, but the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office preliminarily denied the application after finding that three companies had already applied for trademarks that contained "tweet" in their names. The effort became more interesting a few months later when Twitter asked a developer to find a new name and user interface because of their similarity to its own service because it was "uncomfortable with the use of the word Tweet (our trademark) and the similarity in your UI and our own." On the other hand, Twittad obtained the trademark after a 2008 application to trademark the phrase "Let Your Ad Meet Tweets" went unopposed. — TJD, GMA News