“Tweet” Trademark

James Eliason, CEO of Twittad, said in an interview that Twitter would drop a lawsuit it filed against his company last month that sought to nix Twittad’s registered trademark of the word “tweet.” In return, Des Moines-based Twittad would transfer its registered trademark of “tweet” to Twitter, he said.

(People “tweet” by posting a message of up to 140 characters on Twitter, an online messaging service.)

Twitter’s battle over the “tweet” trademark was the subject of a Wall Street Journal article last month.

Eliason declined to say whether Twitter paid Twittad, citing a confidentiality agreement between the companies.

“We’ve arrived at a resolution with Twittad that recognizes consistent use of Tweet while supporting the continued success of Twitter ecosystem partners like Twittad,” Twitter spokeswoman Lynn Fox said in a statement.

Eliason said Twitter would restore Twittad’s account on Twitter so that it can resume business. Twittad helps a network of 27,000 other Twitter users to get paid to tweet advertisements on Twitter.

Eliason, who runs other Web start-ups, said Twittad would continue to use its original tagline: “Let your ad meet tweets.”

In its legal filings last month, Twitter argued that “tweet” was already “famous” as a Twitter term before rivals filed trademark application and that Twitter is the rightful owner.

The suit held that another company’s getting the tweet-related trademark “threatens to block Twitter from its registration and legitimate uses of its own mark.”