TechCrunch recently came across an email exchange between a Twitter API team member and a third-party developer where the Twitter staffer said that Twitter was “uncomfortable with the use of the word Tweet (our trademark).”

Twitter recently applied for a trademark with respect to the word ‘Tweet’ in both the United States and Europe, and in any case, might already have a common law trademark in relation to the term.

Does this mean Twitter will start clamping down on everyone who has included ‘Tweet’ in their business or brand name?

Well, firstly, despite registering a trademark, or the argument that Twitter already has a common law trademark… there’s probably a good counter-argument that ‘Tweet’ has entered common parlance and, as a consequence, Twitter cannot stop others from using it.

Secondly, assuming that Tweet is trademark-able, and that Twitter owns intellectual property (IP) rights in its name, logo, website design and other elements of its business, there’s also another argument that the company has impliedly permitted others to use its trademarks, designs, etc.

Most importantly, however, Twitter doesn’t really seem to mind people appropriating its IP!

According to Twitter co-founder Biz Stone the company wants to continue ‘nourishing and supporting’ the ‘Twitter ecosystem’ and has no plans to go after developers who have used Twitter’s IP in their applications or services. It’s only if Twitter comes across a project that is ‘confusing or potentially damaging’ that it will ‘act responsibly to protect both users and our brand.’

Biz Stone says, for example, that the confusion arising from including Twitter’s name in other companies’ brands is an example of something that could be potentially confusing. In this case, Twitter would want them to use more original branding for their project.

Meanwhile, Twitter plans to add more documentation, guidelines, and best practices ‘to help developers get the most out of our growing set of open APIs. We’ll work together to ensure success for Twitter, developers, and everyone who uses these services while avoiding confusion and maintaining quality.’

Twitter is pretty liberal when it comes to allowing others to use its IP. Do the people at Twitter know something a lot of other corporate and legal folks don’t?

Sources: Robin Wauters, “Twitter Grows ‘Uncomfortable’ With The Use Of The Word Tweet In Applications,” TechCrunch, July 1, 2009, Biz Stone, “May The Tweets Be With You,” Twitter Blog, July 1, 2009

This entry was posted on Friday, July 3rd, 2009 at 8:00 pm and is filed under Feature, Law, Social Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.