Hey Stuart, I'm glad someone else posted they were being pursued by Twitters Legal representatives apart from myself.
(I'm still waiting for answers to my questions so nothing new to report here). Do you feel that their real beef is using the word "Twit" in your URL? I put a counter proposal to Twitters legal representative to rename my application www.MyTweetButler.com which as per Biz Stone's blog post of July 1st he indicated he was very happy with 3rd party developers to use the word "Tweet" http://blog.twitter.com/2009/07/may-tweets-be-with-you.html#links There have also been discussions online that although Twitter inc have applied for a trademark for Tweet (not granted yet) that the term was actually coined by an end user so Twitter would actually have a lot of problems if they decided to pursue people with the word Tweet in their name. Do you think that this will satisfy them? Regards, Dean Collins d...@mytwitterbutler.com +1-212-203-4357 New York +61-2-9016-5642 (Sydney in-dial). +44-20-3129-6001 (London in-dial). -----Original Message----- From: twitter-development-talk@googlegroups.com [mailto:twitter-development-t...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Twitlonger Sent: Thursday, August 13, 2009 6:33 PM To: Twitter Development Talk Subject: [twitter-dev] Cease & Desist from Twitter I recently got a letter by email from a UK law firm representing Twitter claiming that my website www.twitlonger.com was infringing on their trade mark and was inherently likely to confuse users. The version of the website they were objecting to didn't have a similar font but did use the same birds as the old version of the site (fair enough to be asked to remove them). The timing coincided with a redesign of the site anyway which went live this week. I emailed them back pointing this out and then ended up on the phone with them with the claim being that the site as it stands now could still be seen as "potentially confusing". I want to know how different they expect a site to be (especially when it doesn't even include the full word "twitter" in the name. Compare this to Twitpic, Twitvid etc who are using the same contraction AND the same typeface. This feels so much like a legal department doing stuff that is completely contrary to the Twitter team who have been so supportive of the third party community. Of course, all these applications have been granted access to be listed in the posted from field in the tweets, been granted special access to the API via whitelisting which requires the application to be named and described and, in many cases, been registered with OAuth, again requiring the name and description of the app. Has anyone else received similar letters where they have no problem with the service but can't seem to tell the difference between two sites if blue is present in each? :( Letter copied below. --- TWITTER - Trade Mark and Website Presentation Issues We act for Twitter, Inc. in relation to intellectual property issues in the UK. Twitter has asked us to contact you about your ww.twitlonger.comwebsite (the..Website..).Twitter has no objection to the service which you are offering on the Website. However, Twitter does need you to make certain changes to the Website. We have set out the reasons below. Your Website Twitter owns a number of registrations for its TWITTER trade mark, including Community trade mark registration number 6392997. Your use of a name for the Website which is based on the TWITTER trade mark is inherently likely to confuse users of the ww.twitter.com website into thinking that the Website is owned or operated by Twitter, when this is not the case. You are using a font on your Website which is very similar to that used by Twitter for its TWITTER logo. You have no doubt chosen to use this font for this very reason. You are also using a blue background and representations of blue birds. These blue birds are identical to those which Twitter has previously used on the www.twitter.com website. The combination of these factors and the name of your Website inevitably increase the likelihood of confusion. We therefore ask you to confirm that you will, within seven days of giving the confirmation: 1. incorporate a prominent non-affiliation disclaimer on all pages of the Website; 2. permanently stop any use on the Website of a font which is identical or similar to the font used by Twitter for its TWITTER logo; and 3. permanently stop any use on the Website of (i) representations of blue birds which are identical or similar to the blue bird design previously or currently used by Twitter on the www.twitter.com website; and (ii) a blue background.
