Tag Archives: rebrand

News, Technology

Twitter Updates X Logo, But The New Design Is Easy To Miss

Following Elon Musk’s spontaneous unveiling of the rebrand, many people have noticed that the new X logo seems to be an open-source Unicode character represented by the hex code U+1D54F. The Unicode character, as per Unicode’s Terms of Use, is intended for “personal or internal business uses only” and not for product usage. As the Unicode Consortium has not made any public statements about its usage, it is possible that the X logo was made bold to differentiate it for commercial purposes.

However, the design of the logo may only be half of the challenge for Twitter. The letter X is commonly used by numerous companies and is associated with more than one trademark, including one belonging to their direct competitor, Meta, and another belonging to Microsoft. The active trademark for Meta’s X allows for various applications, including digital and social media, which could pose a problem for Musk’s company, as they offer similar services.

Technology

The Costly Consequences of Elon Musk’s Twitter Rebrand

The announcement of the “X” rebranding has led to a series of setbacks and issues in a surprisingly short period of time. Yaccarino’s vague explanation that the rebranding will be powered by artificial intelligence received criticism, with some comparing it to the story of the “Emperor’s New Clothes,” suggesting that the statements lacked substance.

Almost immediately, problems related to the rebranding started to arise. The San Francisco Police Department intervened and stopped contractors from removing the Twitter signage outside their headquarters due to the absence of permits or requests. This lack of planning posed a safety risk to people passing by. It remains unclear when the removal process will resume.

However, perhaps the most significant issue is the fact that Musk or X Corp. did not trademark the name “X,” despite Musk’s known interest in it. Ironically, it appears that Meta has a trademark for a product called “X,” as indicated in their patent filing for “online social networking services.” These obstacles put the value and positive reputation of the Twitter brand at risk.

Steve Susi, a brand communication expert from Siegel & Gale, explained to Bloomberg, “It took more than 15 years to build that level of global equity, so losing the Twitter brand name would be a significant financial blow.”