This week was the start of Twitter’s rebranding to X. The famous Twitter logo is gone, and a black and white X has now replaced it.
One of the first things that came to mind when I first heard of this rebrand was, ‘’Is Elon going to be able to secure a trademark?’’.
There are in fact hundreds of businesses out there who own variations of the X trademark. For example, Microsoft owns an X trademark, due to owning the Xbox. Meta also owns the trademark to a blue and white X, among hundreds of other businesses.
As Elon’s new logo isn’t very distinctive, there may be issues trying to register the X. It puts him at significant risk of being sued by others and legal fees could run into the hundreds of thousands, if not, millions.
This seems like a risky move on Musk’s behalf. Ensuring that the new brand name, logo, and other elements do not infringe on existing trademarks or intellectual property rights requires legal expertise and registering new trademarks and protecting them internationally can be a costly process. Rebranding also requires a significant marketing push to introduce the new brand to the target audience and build awareness.
There is no doubt that Elon will have any problem marketing this rebrand, but it will be a costly process for the company. Everything will have to be updated, like marketing materials, websites, domain names, social media channels, advertising campaigns, merchandise, contracts, and a great deal more.
Overall, the costs of a business rebrand can vary significantly based on the company’s size, but for Twitter this will cost a lot of money and the extent of changes required are enormous.
However, a total rebrand is often seen as a necessary step to refresh a company’s image, adapt to market changes, and remain competitive in the long run, but only as long as you’re protected, like having a trademark, eh?
What will happen if he can’t get a trademark? Will he be forced to rebrand, again?
What are your thoughts on this? Do you think Musk will get a trademark for X without a dispute? I’d love to know what you think…