The Wall Street Journal Quotes Josh Gerben Regarding Twitter’s Rebrand to X

Elon Musk recently rebranded Twitter to “X” and announced that he wants the social media company to be an everything app, allowing its users to do everything from communicate, shop, watch entertainment and bank from one platform.

The Wall Street Journal and Josh Gerben discussed what the rebrand potentially means for the social media company’s trademark strategy.

Protecting X as a trademark or dealing with litigation surrounding the use of X will take a long time. It could cost more than $100 million to trademark X around the world and pay settlements to other trademark holders, said trademark attorney Josh Gerben.

The social media company will also have to rebrand Twitter jargon such as “tweet.” Much of this jargon is protected through federal trademark registrations. Gerben said that it’s unusual for a company like X Corp. to abandon its globally recognized brand for a new one.

“You know how few brands get to this point in time and have this international value, and to just toss it out the window?” Gerben said. “That’s jaw-dropping.”

Source: Ansari, Talal, Meghan Bobrowsky, and Alyssa Lukpat. https://www.wsj.com. “Elon Musk’s X Rebrand Cues Complications – and Porn Jokes”. 26 July 2023.