No Tweet for Twitter?

"Tweet" might be a word that has been popularized by Twitter, but that doesn't mean that the social network will be able trademark it.

According to U.S. Patent and Trademark Office documents found by blogger Sam Johnston, Twitter's application for a trademark on "tweet" has been preliminarily denied.
Twitter originally filed for the trademark on April 16. In the application, the company expressed its desire to use tweet "through the applicant's related company or licensee the mark in commerce on or in connection with the identified goods and/or services." It seemed like a standard application that, once reviewed, would make "tweet" one of Twitter's registered trademarks.

But after reviewing Twitter's application and sifting through its listing of pending applications, the Patent Office found that three companies had already applied for trademarks that contained "tweet" in their names. They were simply too close to the trademark Twitter wanted.
The Patent Office attached applications sent by those three companies--TweetMarks, Cotweet, and Tweetphoto--with Twitter's rejection notice. In that notice dated July 1, the Patent Office explained that each of those trademark applications were filed with its office before Twitter's application. read more