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[Continuation] Musk buys Twitter II

A prediction: sooner or later Musk will sell off or otherwise lose control of Twitter, and the original branding will return shortly afterwards.
 
gnome said:
A prediction: sooner or later Musk will sell off or otherwise lose control of Twitter, and the original branding will return shortly afterwards.
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Twitter was rarely and barely profitable as a public company.

Now it has billions in debt & it's lost billions in ad revenue.

Elon will get tired of writing checks and Twitter will file bankruptcy. The bankruptcy Trustee will fire Musk &an rehire Dorsey, most likely.
 
I am a trademark attorney. This is a bad trademark. Meta isn’t likely to sue, but X will likely have to sue Meta to terminate their trademark if X wants to have a trademark for similar goods and services.

There are lots of facts that could change that analysis and I haven’t done any research or looked at any legal articles about this from people willing to do that research for free. If I see something from someone I would trust I’ll link to it later.
 
Puppycow said:
Probably not relevant, IMO. An infinity shape is different enough that nobody would confuse one for the other.


Neither am I, and we can probably assume the same for all of us, unless someone tells us otherwise. However, I do work in a field related to intellectual property, specifically patent translation (but very occasionally other IP-related documents).
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I stopped writing patents some time ago and the thought of doing translations for a living makes me consider the benefits of an unhoused lifestyle.
 
Dr. Keith said:
I am a trademark attorney. This is a bad trademark. Meta isn’t likely to sue, but X will likely have to sue Meta to terminate their trademark if X wants to have a trademark for similar goods and services.

There are lots of facts that could change that analysis and I haven’t done any research or looked at any legal articles about this from people willing to do that research for free. If I see something from someone I would trust I’ll link to it later.
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Cool. Someone who actually knows something. I mentioned in post #278 that the goods or services that had been associated with that particular logo are no longer being offered. My understanding of trademark law is that if a business is not actually offering any good or service in association with a registered trademark, that others may claim it. Also, the actual name of the service was "Mixer" and only one of the logo marks looked like an "X" but substantially different from the "X" logo that Musk is using.

Finally, if Twitter stops using the Twitter trademarks by switching to a new brand, could others start to use them?

Dr. Keith said:
I stopped writing patents some time ago and the thought of doing translations for a living makes me consider the benefits of an unhoused lifestyle.
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Meh, it suits my personality and skill set. I won't lie and say it's exciting work, or even that it feels important for humanity, but it allows me to house and feed my family, which is enough.
 
Use of a mark is important to maintaining a registration, but lapses in usage are not fatal to a mark’s registration. The line between a lapse in use and abandonment is very fact based. I’m sure some legal blogger/writer out there has pulled the relevant case law and known facts by this point.

Timing of the most recent section 8 and 15 filings will play a role, too.

Eta: Kudos on finding a niche that fits your skills and needs. Tough job and it is evident when it is not done well. The good ones are much less remarkable.
 
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Any trademark dispute is going to be especially tedious because I'd bet money that most people will still refer to it as Twitter, official branding be damned.
 
Twitter is now weaponizing its own dysfunction against advertisers. Spend above a certain threshold on advertising or Twitter will remove the gold verification mark and they will become victim to endless impersonation scams and pranks. Anyone with $8 will be able to purchase a blue check, change their display name, and go to town on their brand.

X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, has warned companies on the site that failure to buy more than $1,000 in ads could result in losing their “verification” badges, according to a new report from the Wall Street Journal. The check mark badge system has become a point of controversy since Elon Musk purchased the website back in October 2022 and allowed anyone to buy a check mark for just $8 per month.

The removal of a yellow check mark, which were handed out free under Musk to some of the biggest brands on the platform after significant issues arose, will apparently happen to any company that hasn’t spent at least $1,000 on ads over the past month or at least $6,000 in the preceding 180 days, according to the Journal. The check marks will reportedly disappear starting August 7.
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https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattnovak/2023/07/25/twitter-warns-companies-could-lose-verification-if-they-dont-buy-ads-report/?sh=7146fe126ed6
 
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TurkeysGhost said:
Twitter is now weaponizing its own dysfunction against advertisers. Spend above a certain threshold on advertising or Twitter will remove the gold verification mark and they will become victim to endless impersonation scams and pranks. Anyone with $8 will be able to purchase a blue check, change their display name, and go to town on their brand.



https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattnovak/2023/07/25/twitter-warns-companies-could-lose-verification-if-they-dont-buy-ads-report/?sh=7146fe126ed6
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That would be quite foolish. The big brand companies are legally obligated to go after misuse of their trademarks, never mind other possible legal issues it will expose X Corp to.
 
Twitter Deletes Fact-Check Of Musk Connecting Bronny James’ Cardiac Arrest To Covid Vaccine

X—the recently rebranded version of Twitter—removed a fact-check from a Tuesday post by company owner Elon Musk that linked the cardiac arrest suffered by college basketball player Bronny James to the Covid-19 vaccine—the latest assertion from the billionaire who’s increasingly promoting conspiracy theories and fringe ideas.
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https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoniopequenoiv/2023/07/25/twitter-deletes-fact-check-of-musk-connecting-bronny-james-cardiac-arrest-to-covid-vaccine/?sh=d7b68e83aa86
 
Andy_Ross said:
Twitter was rarely and barely profitable as a public company.

Now it has billions in debt & it's lost billions in ad revenue.

Elon will get tired of writing checks and Twitter will file bankruptcy. The bankruptcy Trustee will fire Musk &an rehire Dorsey, most likely.
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It's privately owned. Can't he just sink the damned thing if he wants? These companies have notoriously little "stuff" they can sell off to repay creditors. Some aging computers? A few buildings?
 
Beerina said:
It's privately owned. Can't he just sink the damned thing if he wants? These companies have notoriously little "stuff" they can sell off to repay creditors. Some aging computers? A few buildings?
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The creditors will get Twitter. Not just their stuff, they will get the company. Likely it will go Chapter 11. Its Twitters IP, customer base, reputation etc that are valuable. Everyone that is owed money will get a fractional bit of ownership in Twitter. They will then, almost certainly, take it public again eventually, to try and recoup their losses.

I work for a business that went bankrupt, or I should say I worked for a business that went bankrupt and now work for the company that took them over. The largest creditor took them over, and paid off some of the smaller creditors per a settlement agreement. Of course this was penny's on the dollar compared to what Twitter owes several large banks.
 
I Am The Scum said:
A right-wing conspiracy theorist was banned for posting child exploitation pictures. In a pair of tweets, Elon Musk acknowledges the reason why, and also that he is reversing the ban.
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That is unfortunately not unbelievable. :(

Also I don't know about the USA but that would be criminal in the UK and as far as I know across all the EU countries. Criminal for both the person who posted them and for X to hold onto those images.
 
lobosrul5 said:
The creditors will get Twitter. Not just their stuff, they will get the company. Likely it will go Chapter 11. Its Twitters IP, customer base, reputation etc that are valuable. Everyone that is owed money will get a fractional bit of ownership in Twitter. They will then, almost certainly, take it public again eventually, to try and recoup their losses.

I work for a business that went bankrupt, or I should say I worked for a business that went bankrupt and now work for the company that took them over. The largest creditor took them over, and paid off some of the smaller creditors per a settlement agreement. Of course this was penny's on the dollar compared to what Twitter owes several large banks.
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Which Musk has seemingly been doing his best to devalue as fast as possible.
 
Darat said:
for X to hold onto those images.
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Really doubt there's much liability for Twitter assuming they deleted the posts. Pretty much every website that allows for user content has to deal with illegal material being regularly posted.

Musk intervened to unban his kiddie porn posting pal, but the offending posts themselves were not restored.
 
Beerina said:
It's privately owned. Can't he just sink the damned thing if he wants? These companies have notoriously little "stuff" they can sell off to repay creditors. Some aging computers? A few buildings?
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Problem for Musk is a) he had to secure most of his finances off his personal assets, not Twitter and b) his co-investors will dismember you for looking at them sideways, never mind losing them $13bn.
 
Gulliver Foyle said:
Problem for Musk is a) he had to secure most of his finances off his personal assets, not Twitter and b) his co-investors will dismember you for looking at them sideways, never mind losing them $13bn.
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The $13 billion is owed to several banks, not to Saudi Arabia. I think the dismemberers are only in it to the tune of a couple of billion.
 
Dr. Keith said:
I am a trademark attorney. This is a bad trademark. Meta isn’t likely to sue, but X will likely have to sue Meta to terminate their trademark if X wants to have a trademark for similar goods and services.

There are lots of facts that could change that analysis and I haven’t done any research or looked at any legal articles about this from people willing to do that research for free. If I see something from someone I would trust I’ll link to it later.
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I wonder if one reason he backed down from his rebranding of Paypal as ""X Com" is his attorneys told him he would have fight with Microprose because they had a very sucessful series of computer games with that name.
 
dudalb said:
I wonder if one reason he backed down from his rebranding of Paypal as ""X Com" is his attorneys told him he would have fight with Microprose because they had a very sucessful series of computer games with that name.
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Have, not had. They are still selling them, and making new ones. Thats very much an active trademark, unlike "X".
 
lobosrul5 said:
Have, not had. They are still selling them, and making new ones. Thats very much an active trademark, unlike "X".
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Oh, I know,I know.
IHave not played the latest, but bought it on GOG.
The first remains my favorite, though.
 
arthwollipot said:
[IMGw=800]https://i.imgur.com/b6XP07r.jpeg[/IMGw]
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That was one of the main reasons he was overruled when they were setting up the payment company that came to be called PayPal.

He's very Trumpian, he never forgets a slight.

The fundamental idea of what he wants to do is sound. WeChat in China is making a fortune. His execution is lacking.
 
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dudalb said:
I wonder if one reason he backed down from his rebranding of Paypal as ""X Com" is his attorneys told him he would have fight with Microprose because they had a very sucessful series of computer games with that name.
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No he backed down because Peter Thiel had fired him for incompetence and his only remaining involvement in Paypal was to collect his dividends cheques.
 
a_unique_person said:
That was one of the main reasons he was overruled when they were setting up the payment company that came to be called PayPal.

He's very Trumpian, he never forgets a slight.

The fundamental idea of what he wants to do is sound. WeChat in China is making a fortune. His execution is lacking.
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Wechat is only making a fortune because it has a captive audience. If you're not using the app you're carted off to a reeducation camp and never seen again.
 
a_unique_person said:
You exaggerate. It offers much more than chat now including finance and shopping. That's what Musk wants X to be.
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Aside from the fact that the Chinese government is very much encouraging everybody to use WeChat, do you really want one person to own the app that runs your whole life?

It's a stupid and dangerous idea. Imagine if X was the only retail site and the only finance provider and you did something to annoy Elon Musk. Imagine if he leaked all the details of your financial transactions on amazon. Imagine if he kicked you off so you couldn't buy anything anymore and your employer no longer had anywhere to send your paycheques.

It's a dystopia.
 
jeremyp said:
Aside from the fact that the Chinese government is very much encouraging everybody to use WeChat, do you really want one person to own the app that runs your whole life? It's a stupid and dangerous idea. Imagine if X was the only retail site and the only finance provider and you did something to annoy Elon Musk. Imagine if he leaked all the details of your financial transactions on amazon. Imagine if he kicked you off so you couldn't buy anything anymore and your employer no longer had anywhere to send your paycheques.

It's a dystopia.
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Really? You need to get out more.
 
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