Twitter Goes to Court to Fight for the Right to "Tweet"

Social ad agency Twittad received a trademark registration for the phrase "Let Your Ad Meet Tweets" in 2008, but Twitter's lawyers aren't amused.

The social network's lawyers are going to court to prevent Twittad from the use of "tweet," as it "threatens to block" Twitter from registering "tweet" as its own mark.

Twittad CEO James Eliason, now blocked from selling sponsored tweets while his lawyers take on Twitter, is irked because Twitter apparently was in the loop on its trademark actio, he tells Online Media Daily, which reports "Twittad had talks with Twitter co-founder Evan Williams as far back as 2008, and that Williams encouraged the ad network to 'continue to experiment' to find an ad model for the service." 

Williams left Twitter earlier this year to found a startup, The Obvious Corporation, which announced a stake in tinier startup Lift in August.