Twitter and Twittad Settle Dispute over TWEET

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The lawsuit between Twitter and Twittad about which we wrote previously has ended barely a month after it began. Twitter and Twittad announced on October 10, 2011, that they have settled their dispute over Twittad’s registration of LET YOUR AD MEET TWEETS as a trademark. While the full terms of the settlement agreement are confidential, the Wall Street Journal reports that Twitter will drop its lawsuit, and Twittad will assign its rights in the registration to Twitter, although Twittad will continue to use the tagline with its services. Indeed, by October 11, Twitter had filed a notice of voluntary dismissal of the litigation, and Twittad had recorded with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office an assignment to Twitter of the entire interest in its registration. Twitter has also restored Twittad’s Twitter account, which it had suspended during the dispute. The apparent assignment-and-license-back arrangement is in line with Twitter’s stated policy of encouraging third parties to build identifiable enhancements to the Twitter “ecosystem” while maintaining its claim to trademark rights in the term TWEET.

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