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Leo Laporte leaves Twitter to avoid confusion with TWiT

twitter.com — "I've asked Ev to delete my Twitter account. I'm concerned about confusion with TWiT." Looks like trademarks got the best of him...

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  • hawk_eye, on 10/12/2007, -4/+54hmmm ... after going ra ra over twitter in multiple shows / podcasts over the past few weeks, this move caught me by surprise. I would fault Leo Laporte's timing here, if indeed wanted protect the twit trademark, he should acted earlier, not after playing a rather active part in promoting it (IIRC the twitter chap was also on the net@nite podcast a few weeks ago)
    • TheWorm, on 10/12/2007, -28/+9Wrong reply.
    • scootinger, on 10/12/2007, -15/+3Wow....wonder what's going to happen if he ends up trademarking "Netcast"?
    • Raian, on 10/12/2007, -2/+58I think Leo is working on protecting his TWiT trademark-- He said he would send a cease and desist letter to twitter in his net@nite podcast -- then he would licence the trademark to twitter for a dollar a year.

      The reason being, if he doesn't do this he will lose TWiT.
    • rhnet, on 10/12/2007, -6/+1He just recently got the trademark. http://www.twit.tv/natn17
    • spargo, on 10/12/2007, -16/+7Dugg for Leo Laporte.
    • Alegoo92, on 10/12/2007, -13/+7um-- why does anybody care?
    • xenixninja, on 10/12/2007, -9/+4@ Raian

      He has the right to protect his trademark, TWiT, but still, Twitter is a different trademark and word.
    • macmcrae, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11I have wondered many times why Leo didn't go after Ev for taking the twit name for a joyride..
      I think Leo likes Ev and was basically too nice to pursue it. If it was
      called wanker, it would have reached far fewer people.
    • xenixninja, on 10/12/2007, -10/+5@ macmcrae

      Twitter is a word and so is TWiT. Are we going to trademark and copyright words now?

      Twitter is a service that most people can enjoy, but TWiT is mostly for geeks. Of course Twitter will get more attention.
    • j_bellone, on 10/12/2007, -8/+3Apple trademarked the letter 'i' so why not?
    • willynilly, on 10/12/2007, -13/+3Who the hell is this and WTF is Twitter?
    • CthulhuDawn, on 10/12/2007, -10/+14What the hell is up with Leo lately? I've always been a fan, but as of recent he's been whiny as *****. On the last episode of TWiT he criticized Kevin and Diggnation for endorsing "binge drinking." Now he's bitching about a website which he ENDORSED because it has a catchy name too similar to his. Give me a break.

      Maybe he's been hanging out with Dvorak too long...
    • Pottersquash, on 10/12/2007, -5/+3@ macmcrae

      Twitter is a word and so is TWiT. Are we going to trademark and copyright words now?"

      Now? we have been trademarking words forever "Slinky" "Red" every perfume is a trademarked word, your dumb
    • mikesum32, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2He won't lose anything, Twitter is not the same as TWiT. If someone had their own net-cast about technology and called it TWiT, then maybe Leo might lose it, but if they aren't the same then it's not a trademark violation.

    • gcnaddict, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6"but if they aren't the same then it's not a trademark violation. "

      Say that to Lindows--er, Linspire. (Freespire wins props though)
    • rpgmaker, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Aren't windows and lindows OS both?
    • cawpin, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1@CthulhuDawn - He didn't criticize them for it. He asked if they were ever concerned about it. Stop spreading *****.
  • jakejarvis, on 10/12/2007, -2/+42Update: Since Leo's account was eventually deleted, the link no longer works -- his blog post is here: http://leoville.vox.com/library/post/goodbye-twitter-hello-jaiku.html
  • Universal, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5He had 4436+ followers, a world record? P.S. His account is still there, for now. http://twitter.com/leolaporte
    • mikev, on 10/12/2007, -8/+4He was number one on twitterific, making him the most popular user.

      I will miss Leo's updates. :X
    • cawpin, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1404 - Page not found.
  • SamKellett, on 10/12/2007, -9/+34For an established company, that's such a horrible 404 page, or, is Twitter run by 12 year olds?
    • BrK1, on 10/12/2007, -10/+6I don't know who runs it, but considering it's really only used by 12 year olds (the story at hand an obvious exception), I'd say that's an appropriate 404 page.
    • turpenine, on 10/12/2007, -4/+4yeah it's run by 12 year olds.
      for the record, that is an AMAZING 404.
    • willynilly, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1These Twitter spammers are proliferating by the minute.

      Is payola tax-deductible for corporations?
    • fsjonsey, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Is it Caturday?
  • mike17032, on 10/12/2007, -6/+7It sounds like a smart move to me, as the names are very confusing. I thought they were somehow related at first too.

    Bummer for Leo, I know he really liked Twitter.
    • TheWorm, on 10/12/2007, -6/+14As a new listener to TWiT, I was under the impression Twitter was related to TWiT.
    • cawpin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Nope, and that's exactly why he has to take this action. If he doesn't, he can't in the future.
  • ragley, on 10/12/2007, -15/+48Hmmmm, twitter must be one of the dumbest sites i have ever wasted 30 seconds browsing
  • KnightMareInc, on 10/12/2007, -8/+31have to defend the trademark or you lose it.
    • btgoss, on 10/12/2007, -5/+21I know your being dugg down, but I think Leo himself said that he was going to be forced into doing something like this, or as you said he would lose hise trademark for TWIT. I haven't read his blog yet, but I am sure he is not happy that he has to do that, but with Twitter being something that could become huge, he has to do it, or lose all of the IP he has in TWIT. It does suck tho...
    • KnightMareInc, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5yup in one of the podcast(forget which) he said he has to send a C&D before he could make any sort of deal.
    • fatdog789, on 10/12/2007, -6/+4He's already lost his chance to defend TWiT by actively promoting Twitter, which was (in his own words) an infringing use of his trademark. He will be deemed to have acquiesced to their usage. Thus, it doesn't matter when he registered the trademark. (Sort of like a prior art for TMs).
    • SilentSpyder, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Same thing happened with Digg a while ago. KRose said they HAD to go after some of the clone sites or they would lose the trademark.
    • ShiverMeBoner, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Wouldn't it be possible to give express permission to certain people to use your trademark? Then you wouldn't lose your trademark by not defending it.
    • mike17032, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I heard second hand that Leo said in his podcast that he would license it to Twitter for 1 buck a year.
    • yacks, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0so what does Digg think about all the "Digg" shirts on cafepress? :) do you think they all have permission? .. If you ever had a cafepress shop and had time to look through the forum... You'd notice a lot of posts in regard to the use of the word "caution" in terms of trademark.
    • KnightMareInc, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@ShiverMeBoner

      yes but like leo said in that podcast he still would have to send a C&D before that could happen.
  • jcavaliere, on 10/12/2007, -10/+3Time for bed - my 36 hour coding marathon lead me to read TWiT as TMNT!
  • mattym, on 10/12/2007, -5/+68Can someone please explain the current obsession with Twitter? Seriously, I just don't get it,
    but I'd really like to know why people are so into it...maybe I'm missing something.
    • jcavaliere, on 10/12/2007, -5/+21My only answer is television has gotten THAT bad
    • stalefries, on 10/12/2007, -2/+18it's like a cross between a blog and im status messages. I don't quite get the draw either.
    • cinnix, on 10/12/2007, -4/+7It's more useful if you got friends who will follow your status :P
    • sn0re, on 10/12/2007, -4/+5Again, isn't that what IM status messages are for?
    • jhuebel, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7But do you really want people to know your every move? People are constantly complaining about privacy issues on the 'net, yet they'll talk about every minute detail of their lives IN PUBLIC on twitter...
    • judsond, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Well, the mobile aspect I think is the most useful feature. There's no functionality that is better in it that IM, but you get them sent via sms if you want, and you can update via sms.

      @jhuebel: Not the same people probably :)
    • bmnrocks, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2jhuebel,
      I only speak for myself of course, but I believe that most people want privacy to be their choice, not the choice of someone else. I am very pro privacy but also detail a lot on my blog for anyone to see(mainly family), but it all comes down to it being MY CHOICE.
    • nicktripp, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Twitter is no fun without friends. That's the main gist of it. For me, the appeal is that my close friends are spread out all over the country can update throughout the day, and I get to feel like I'm that much more a part of their lives. It probably seems silly, but it's just a fun social tool. Nothing more.

      As for the privacy, you can choose to hide your updates from the public timeline, which makes them only available to your friends.
  • d3ik, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4He had mentioned during one of his podcasts that in the process of trademarking TWiT his trademark lawyer advised him to send Twitter a cease and desist letter. We have seen this with various Digg clones and how that affects Digg's trademark, so I can't really blame him. He has to *appear* to be defending his trademark, then he can license the name for $1 or something... (as I think Amber had mentioned on the last net@nite).

    He's doing really cool things with TWiT, I particularly like FLOSS Weekly (monthly? quarterly?), and I'd hate to see anything happen to that.
  • kolop1, on 10/12/2007, -5/+19People use twitter for a week or so. Then stop using it. It's more an internet fad than anything else.
    • Jjcd7, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4That describes me. Eventually I realized I didn't have enough friends online who care about what I'm doing enough to get a Twitter account.
  • tjdoom, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2When my friend first told me about Twitter I thought he was talking about slang for anyone who listened to TWiT.
  • GaryK, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6Did anyone listen to yesterday's Windows Weekly podcast from TWiT? Leo was telling everyone how great twitter was. No mention of brand name confusion. Then just a few hours later in a blog post he disassociated himself with twitter over trademark and brand name concerns. What happened in the few hours between the podcast and his blog post?
    • spoooon, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5You have to realize that most of the podcast on TWiT are done days/weeks in advance so there is a lot more time then you are thinking between the recording of that show and his blog post...
    • Nothlit, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4"What happened?" He probably talked to his lawyer...
    • GaryK, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3@spoooon: Normally I'd agree with you but I was under the impression this was a live episode of Windows Weekly. That's what Leo kept saying all through the podcast. They were even taking calls from listeners. I guess that doesn't necessarily mean it was done live that day right before being pushed out so you're probably right. Someone else's comment about the lawyers is probably right too. Maybe they listen to the podcast and freaked out thus forcing Leo to take immediate action.

      BTW, I like to consider myself an intelligent person. And yet at first I thought twitter had something to do with TWiT. So maybe Leo is doing what he needs to do to protect his much-loved TWiT network of podcasts. I don't blindly agree with everything Leo says or does, but I respect him a lot. If he needs to do this then I'm sure he has good reasons. It was just the apparent timing of the podcast and then the blog post that had me confused.

      One more BTW. I'm really starting to like Digg. Good work Kevin and all the members who help make this such a good site.
  • mroy, on 10/12/2007, -4/+3He'll be back on twitter soon enough - after he's done satisfying the requirements of defending his trademark, and gets it licensed to twitter, he'll be back on. This is just a technicality.
  • diggermike, on 10/12/2007, -9/+8Twitter to me is for the stalker to lazy to leave the house. Another way to look at it is the friend's that HAVE to know everything that their friends are doing or saying 24/7. Sad really.
  • Hoodwink, on 10/12/2007, -17/+4Wow, I am so sick of hearing about every little thing Leo ***** Laporte does. Seriously, if the guy sneezes, it makes the front page of Digg. Stupid, IMHO.
    • LavaHot, on 10/12/2007, -8/+2AAAAACHOOO!!!!

      headline: Leo's Nose falls off face, cute kitten hangs self due to shame.

      +1336 diggs.
  • LavaHot, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Aww, I didn't know kittens could show shame.
  • Rice, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Leave while you're on the top.
  • pb30, on 02/15/2008, -0/+5http://twitter.com/leomatic is posting his Jaiku feed on twitter
  • bootle, on 10/12/2007, -6/+5I bet leo got sick of twittering but didn't want to admit it, so he found an excuse.

    Scoble has a really annoying voice, that's what I got from the TWiT(ter) episode
    • ross., on 10/12/2007, -1/+2That doesn't seems logical seeing his posted 20+ updates on jaiku in the last day
    • bootle, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1In truth, I don't know what Jaiku is, but scoble has a voice like nails on a chalkboard...

      Remember that guy on twit from Louisiana who kept babbling about DOS and crap? Scoble is number 2 most annoyingly voiced twitter behind him.
  • Roseb44170, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Well I have been a fan of his for quite some time. I went to the link but alas you can't post a comment unless you're a member. Can't wait for his show to hit the states!
  • scott88008, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2"Twit" is a synonym of "twerp" meaning a foolish and contemptible person. I love Leo and subscribe to all of his podcasts but the TWiT trademark has always annoyed me.
    • muikano, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1a twit is a pregnant goldfish/guppy. What are you talking about. Socrates says the first true step to knowledge is to admit your own ignorance. There's nothing wrong with the phrase twit. It's like those Programming for Dummies books. They do a decent job teaching amateurs.
  • Protonz, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3I couldn't figure out why they were always talking about Twitter on TWiT.

    I was under the impression that somehow the 2 were related. Twitter looked so retarded that I thought only someone related to the company could love it.
  • MikeOSX, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7Leo was the most popular person on Twitter. I believe he could have handled it more professionally and mature than asking everyone to join Twitter, just to ask them to switch to a new app because he doesn't like the similarities in the name. He should have thought of that before he was promoting Twitter left and right.
  • PauseBreak, on 10/12/2007, -5/+4Leo LaPorte taken seriously on Digg?

    Wow! I honestly never expected that.

    Sure he's fine if you're running your first computer and just got a virus in your AOL mailbox from your brand new Netzero dial-up account.

    I can understand the possible confusion, though, so will try to explain:

    Leo LaPorte = a founding TwIT and twitters about TwIT
    twit = someone who has done something rather silly or stupid
    Twitter = silly social networking site used by twits

    So, all Twitters are twits but not all twits are Twitters.
    • xenixninja, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/twit
      http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/twitter
    • mike17032, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Why wouldnt people on Digg love Leo? Given the ties between Leo and Kevin Rose, of course Digg is going to be full of Leo fans. Hell Kevin used to be on TWiT all the time (I wish he still was).
    • Swampthing, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Don't confuse a Twit with a *****...
    • macmcrae, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Just listen to a tech podcast by hardcore tech geeks and you instantly understand what leo brings to the table. He is a professional entertainer who is able to take in and present information in a way that doesn't make you want to commit suicide while listening. Can anyone imagine listening to security now or macbreak without him? They are absolutely horrible when he is gone. Listening to gibson read his little presentations gives me a seizure. Think Mary Hart on carpet dope.
  • AlmostaGeek, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2It's something he had to do. I wonder if they will change the name for him?? Tweeter....??
  • xenixninja, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Yes, do it the American way, sue.
    • mike17032, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1If you knew anything about trademark law, you might not sound so stupid. You are required to defend your trademarks.

      But dont expect a lawsuit out of this, they will work out some cheap deal. Leo likes Twitter.
    • xenixninja, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1And before you defend something, you have to be attacked.
    • StealthTomato, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Not necessarily, xenix. If you don't defend your trademark, then you lose it.

      Leo doesn't want to sue Twitter over his recently-acquired TWiT trademark, but it seemed like he might have to in order to preserve the TWiT trademark.

      Though, I don't see why he needs to trademark it in the first place.

      Also, I don't see how him deleting his Twitter account helps the trademark confusion, from a legal standpoint.
  • FairlyStupid, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5I'm sure someone has already said this before but Twitter has got to be the most annoying and stupid Web 2.0 idea to actually hit the internet in a LONG time. I don't understand the fascination, and how the owners EVER hope to make any real money on it. The only people there are the ones who have gotten SOOO low on self esteem that only a website can make them feel important every few minutes.

    hmmm...
    • xenixninja, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1Then why do you post here then? Do you really think people care what you say? Or did this reply boost your self-esteem?
    • FairlyStupid, on 10/12/2007, -5/+0Um there's a reason why people use the internet!! I think what you're saying is that i should stop using the internet cos i dislike twitter. Your shallow thought process is documented well above in your response.. in other words.. you're probably a moron.
    • xenixninja, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1@ fairlystupid

      Are you replying to me, because I don't see anything you say has to do what I said to you.
      I did not tell you to stop using the internet.
      Of course, your nick kind'a says it all, doesn't it?
    • FairlyStupid, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0@xenixninja

      I can play the flame wars pretty good too if you are up to it.

      My statement was simply that twitter is a bad idea on the internet (my opinion) and meaning that Web 2.0 is headed in all kinds of wrong directions. Twitter is people SMS'ing or typing their status every few minutes. And i relate that to low self esteem problems (my opinion). To which you inquired as to why i post here.

      And my nick can mean a lot of things if you think about it. I chose it carefully.

    • xenixninja, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1@ fairlystupid

      Well, it's up to you, because you started with the name calling here. If you can't handle people questioning your opinions, then don't tell them what they are.

      And if you believe that Twitter is a service only for telling people what they are doing, then you haven't played with the idea long enough in your head.

      I believe most people didn't think SMS had any use at all, because why send a SMS when you could call someone? Well, time changes and so does people. Thanks to ingenuity, we tend to find use for most things, sometimes what we didn't believe we could use it for or that people cared about it.

      Of course, it's your opinions and your are entitled to them, just don't believe they are equal to the only correct opinions about Twitter and its use.

      Just take a look at a few things that people have laughed at. The computer mouse, the iPod and iTMS and even the home computer.

      Are you already becoming that old grandfather most of us remember that shock his head at anything that was new and/or hip?
    • FairlyStupid, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0@xenixninja

      Your points are well taken. Yes it can be that twitter may be a hit. But there's some vested interest on my part to see that the bubble does not burst when irrational exuberance makes it tough for all of us at some point to forge ahead. The internet bubble burst once before due to strange reasons. Hope it does not happen again.
  • Dolomite, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3Sounds like the beginning of the end for Twitter. i didnt really care for it much anyway.
    • mike17032, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Why? The last thing Leo wants is to force them out.
    • xenixninja, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Not really. TWiT and Twitter isn't just two different words, they are two different services/products.

      It's like Starbucks going after Star Air, Star Ferry and so on, because they use Star in the beginning of their company name.

      All Leo is doing is giving Twitter free advertising.
    • Obvioustroll, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Because sites like this depend completely on the buzz. Now that one of the biggest buzzers on the internet has abandoned it, you can expect a lot of people to follow suit.
  • vancanucksfan, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5maybe now leo should change TWiT to *****
    • pixelpuncher, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Then Twitter would just change it's name to Twatter.

      Kidding aside, I would assume that TWiT audience should be able to tell the difference.

      Since the link to the story doesn't go anywhere useful I find this story to be bogus.
    • cawpin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@pixelpuncher - He's not concerned about the existing TWIT audience. He is trying to get his whole network to be accessible to anyone and listenable by anyone, not just geeks.
  • Dmgeo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1That link doesn't go anywhere. I get a "404" - was the page deleted?
  • shanmac, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Trademark law aside, this leaves a bad taste in my mouth about Leo. Maybe it was naive of me, but I thought we were dawning on a new era of companies sharing info with their competitors instead of selfishly defending it.
    • Pottersquash, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Communism? No we still have a system devoted to companies competing against each other and not amassing market power through collusion.
  • audiocollective, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6This is totally silly stuff. There is a clear distinction between TWiT and Twitter! I understand you have to protect your trademark and that is cool but to totally leave the thing is silly. Leo has raved on about it and out of nowhere besides to leave it. That makes it totally sound like his motives are not in the right place. ($) Reminds me of when he got freaked out over pod in podcasting. I think he should re-evaluate who is giving him legal help.
    • Pottersquash, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1What would you call a fan of TWiT? "clear distinction" is rarely possible when the junior user's mark is the senior mark with 3 letters attached.
  • macewan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1the later is prettier
  • GhengisKhan, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3All hail Leo. The man's awesome.
  • Boognish, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2A friend of mine calls her vag a twitter HA!
  • stephendew, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1This just makes me sad :(
  • delee928, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I find this development semi-hypocritical by Leo Laporte. He leaves twitter because his lawyers tell him that there might be a trademark infraction with his own TWiT trademark. Now keep in mind that this coming from the man who has so very critical of Apple's protection of their iPod trademark and the term 'podcasting'.
  • sanstrom, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I have to say a lot of the comments going off on Leo are just naive. While he didn't help his case by saying he liked twitter (which he admits) I can see where a new user would confuse the two. I am a long time listener to TWIT and thought it was a fan site since I've never gone to it. That's the problem. And quit posting the dictionary definition of a twit. It stands for This Week In Tech. It is a play on words. I wonder what twitter is short for? Leo has to do this to protect his trademark. Only a fool wouldn't protect something they worked so hard to build. I don't see Leo as a fool....
  • thepaul, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I agree Leo is not a fool, however his reaction to the name "twitter" reveals one of the problems with copyright. Certainly 'twitter' is a legitimate word and the dictionary reveals the definition. In fact the definition of the word is very applicable to Twitter.

    Leo should protect his copyright, but, he totally off base on this one.
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