Twitter’s X rebrand ‘is legal risk’

With no obvious registration of a US trademark for X by a Musk company, one legal expert suggested that he could face demands for compensation or an injunction.

Elon Musk has revealed a new logo for Twitter which constitutes the letter 'X' as part of a rebrand of the company.

Elon Musk’s rebranding of Twitter has prompted mockery, bafflement and opened up a potential trademark case.

The billionaire unveiled the interim new logo for Twitter, renamed X, which is a design proposed by one of the app’s users.

The X is now the main image on the app, but legacies of Twitter remain, such as tweet, retweet buttons and labels. They hint at the rapid nature of the overhaul by Musk, 52.

With no obvious registration of a US trademark for X by a Musk company, one legal expert suggested that he could face demands for compensation or an injunction.

Peter Nunn, a partner at the law firm Mishcon de Reya, said: “If there are trademarks on the US register for X which cover the types of services provided by Twitter, then Musk would need to do some kind of deal . . . to buy their trademark, or negotiate a licence from them. If he does neither, then the owner of any X mark covering those services could injunct Twitter from rebranding as X.”

Linda Yaccarino, 59, the Twitter chief executive, spelt out Musk’s vision to turn the platform into an “everything app” like the Chinese WeChat service, which handles everything from payments to taxis.

But Katy Howell, chief executive of the Immediate Future digital agency, said that the rebrand had “done more than raise eyebrows among advertisers”.

Azeem Azhar, of the Exponential research group, said: “It’s a huge risk to trash Twitter’s brand in favour of X without, seemingly, any plan or progress to build not just a new service but also a new brand and win over sceptical users.”

The change prompted jokes from ITVX and the bakery Greggs, who said it was now called “GreX”, with a picture of an X formed in part by a pastry.

The Twitter sign is pictured after being partially removed at their headquarters building in San Francisco after Musk announced he was killing off the logo.

ANALYSIS

There is a logic to Elon Musk’s overhaul.

If you want to reinvent the company, it makes sense to change your name. His vision for turning X into an “everything app” is a far cry from a microblogging platform. But Musk’s problem is twofold: the rebrand has come before any substantive moves towards a super-app and creating one in the West has eluded every company in Silicon Valley.

His arch-enemy, Mark Zuckerberg, gave him a perfect case study in what not to do. He carried out a similar rebrand to pivot his company towards the metaverse, but expectations were built too high and investors rebelled against the money-torching exercise.

Can Musk build an everything app in the West? He is faced with huge cultural and structural hurdles.

The Asian apps faced no rivals in the payment space when they launched. In the West, consumers are locked into a range of other apps that enable them to pay, chat, reserve restaurants and book taxis. Wrenching them away from that will be difficult.

Even if he can, Apple and Google will want their hefty cut of anything through the app stores.

Musk loves nothing more than when his back is against the wall, as it was with electric cars. Time will tell whether he can prove the doubters wrong again.

THE TIMES