Twitter to get more litigious?

Twitter like it or not has exploaded in the last year. Celebrity usage as well as what seems like daily media attention has helped propel Twitter into the mainstream. With that fame comes many people who want to be able to access said accounds and converse with said users. Since using the name Twitter in Twitter apps is heavily frowned upon, Tweet was the next best option. Just take a look at some of the mroe popular Twitter apps: TweetDeck, TweetMeme, and Tweetie just to name a few. Tech Crunch was lucky enough to get a look inside Twitter HQ thanks to a forwarded email. The message has some potential scary implications.

Hi,

Twitter, Inc is uncomfortable with the use of the word Tweet (our trademark) and the similarity in your UI and our own. How can we go about having you change your UI to better differentiate your offering from our own?

Thanks,

Now at first you may not be very worried. But just think, if Twitter began suing people for using the word “Tweet” anywhere in the title, many Twitter apps would be affected, not just the few that I mentioned. Forcing Twitter app developers to rename and potential re-work their apps is not exactly something a company who can’t even make a decent buck should be toying around with. Angering developers who in turn allow scores of people to use the Twitter service isn’t exactly a good idea. Heck, as mobile devices become more prevalent, Twitter apps will over take traditional web usage.

So what’s your take? Is Twitter getting a little to big for their digital britches and getting too serious too fast? Sound off!

Source: Tech Crunch