Issue No. 016
June 15, 2026
New York
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The IP Briefing · by ESCA Legal
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| X Corp. and Operation Bluebird are fighting over whether the old Twitter name, Tweet marks, and bird logo remain protected brand assets after the platform's rebrand to X. |
| § | Operation Bluebird petitioned the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board to cancel X Corp.'s Twitter and Tweet-formative registrations and announced plans for a social platform using the Twitter.new branding. | | § | X Corp. sued in federal court, asserting trademark infringement, false designation of origin, unfair competition, dilution, deceptive trade practices, and copyright infringement tied to the Twitter marks and bird logo. | | § | X argues the Twitter brand remains active through the twitter.com redirect, legacy app usage, and continuing public references to the platform as Twitter. | | § | Operation Bluebird argues X abandoned the marks after the 2023 rebrand and points to public statements about retiring the Twitter brand. |
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| Continue reading → |
| § ESCA Takeaway |
| This issue tracks how brand assets stay alive after a rebrand, how familiar packaging colors can fall short in court, and why marketplace context still matters when a trademark ruling moves from the USPTO to litigation. |
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| More IP Stories |
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| § Trade Dress · Update |
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| The Sixth Circuit affirmed the denial of Scotts' request for a preliminary injunction against P&G's Spruce weed-killer packaging in a Miracle-Gro trade dress dispute. |
| § | Scotts claimed P&G's Spruce packaging infringed and diluted the green-and-yellow Miracle-Gro trade dress. | | § | The appeals court agreed that Scotts was unlikely to succeed on the merits because the challenged packaging and asserted trade dress were highly dissimilar in context. | | § | The court also noted that green and yellow packaging is common in the lawn-and-garden market and that Scotts used different color ratios across parts of its own product line. | | § | The ruling leaves the underlying case alive, but keeps preliminary relief off the table for now. |
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Why it matters
Color-heavy product packaging can be valuable, but courts still ask whether the claimed look is distinctive, consistent, and similar to the accused product in the marketplace. The ruling is a practical warning for brands that want broad control over familiar category colors.
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| § Trademark · Update |
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| The Second Circuit vacated a judgment for Cesari in its trademark case against Peju, holding that a prior TTAB registration decision should not have automatically resolved likelihood of confusion in the later infringement lawsuit. |
| § | Cesari owns the LIANO mark for wine, while Peju sought to use LIANA for wine sold under the Peju label. | | § | A district court gave preclusive effect to a TTAB refusal and treated likelihood of confusion as already decided. | | § | The Second Circuit held that the TTAB decision did not meaningfully consider marketplace usage, including Peju's narrower dessert-wine defense. | | § | The case returns to the district court for further proceedings. |
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Why it matters
Registration proceedings and infringement lawsuits do not always ask the same marketplace question. For brand owners, the ruling reinforces that TTAB outcomes can matter, but they do not automatically replace a court's analysis of actual use.
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This newsletter is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Published by ESCA Legal. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Attorney advertising; prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
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