Twitter sues Twittad over 'tweet' trademark

Until 2006 the word 'tweet' was the noise a bird made, and no more. Now, though, a 'tweet' refers to a message written on the 100 million-strong micro-blogging site Twitter and the company is laying claim to the word under trademark.

However, Twitter has run into a problem as the word 'tweet' is already owned by an advertising firm called Twittad in the slightly jarring phrase 'Let Your Ad Meet Tweets'.

So, like any self-respecting US company, Twitter is suing Twittad. Specifically, it is going after the firm for a violation of a trademark that Twitter argues it should own as it is clearly the reason the term is popular, citing 'retweet' and 'tweetdeck' as evidence.

"This action arises from the registration of the mark 'Let Your Ad Meet Tweets' by Twittad in connection with online advertising services for use on Twitter," the suit reads.

"Defendant's registration unfairly exploits the widespread association by the consuming public of the mark 'tweet' with Twitter, and threatens to block Twitter from its registration and legitimate uses of its own mark."

Such litigiousness over a word previously associated with twitchers such as Bill Oddie is not the first time that tech firms have gone at it over some words. Apple famously lost a preliminary injunction case against Amazon over the term 'app store'.

Sky Broadcasting also tried to take on Skype over the use of the word 'Sky' in its name.

It appears that the lawyers of Silicon Valley are prepared to scour the dictionary from morning to night looking for more words over which they can suggest their client has dominion.

Sony hires former US defence director as chief security officer

Sony has appointed Philip Reitinger as senior vice president and chief information security officer as the company looks to prevent any further high-profile security breaches.

Reitinger will be responsible for securing Sony's information and services, and will report to Nicole Seligman, executive vice president, general counsel and corporate executive officer at Sony.

"He will oversee information security, privacy and internet safety across the company, co-ordinating closely with key headquarters groups and working in partnership with the information security community to bring the best ideas and approaches to Sony," the firm said in a statement.

Reitinger has held a number of high-profile security positions, including six years as chief trustworthy infrastructure strategist and senior security strategist at Microsoft.

His most recent posts were director of the US National Cybersecurity Center and deputy undersecretary of the US Department of Homeland Security, roles he started in June 2009.

Sony chief executive Howard Stringer acknowledged that Sony had a difficult start to 2011, and hinted at changes during his keynote at electronics trade show IFA in Berlin last week.

Stringer maintained that Sony has learned from its mistakes with regard to the high-profile hacking of the PlayStation Network, and that the service is now "more secure than ever".

Sony is aiming to end 2011 with a bang. The company will launch its Sony P and S tablets at the end of September, and has revamped its Reader device to take the fight to Amazon's Kindle.