Twitter based photo-sharing service Twitpic announced on Thursday that it was shutting down, saying it faced an ultimatum from Twitter to abandon its trademark or lose access to the messaging service. On its official blog, Twitpic announced - "Twitpic will be shutting down September 25th."
Twitpic, launched in 2008, allowed users to post photographs on the messaging platform before Twitter adding its own photo-sharing option in 2011.
"A few weeks ago Twitter contacted our legal demanding that we abandon our trademark application or risk losing access to their API. This came as a shock to us since Twitpic has been around since early 2008, and our trademark application has been in the USPTO since 2009", said Twitpic founder Noah Everett.
Twitpic originally filed for trademark in 2009 and its first use in commerce dates back to February 2008 when it was launched. Twitpic encountered several hurdles and difficulties in getting trademark approved even though its first use in commerce predated other applications. During the "published for opposition" phase of the trademark is when Twitter reached out to Twitpic's counsel and implied Twitpic could be denied access to their API if it did not give up its mark.
Noah exlpains that - "Unfortunately we do not have the resources to fend off a large company like Twitter to maintain our mark which we believe whole heartedly is rightfully ours. Therefore, we have decided to shut down Twitpic."
On last note before shutting down founder of Twitpic then added - "I (@noaheverett) want to thank you for letting us be a part of your life and helping you share your experiences over the past 6 years, it’s truly been an honor. I have learned so much through running Twitpic over the years. Through the many mistakes I’ve made and lessons learned, to the bad days and the great days. Thank you again everyone…I will miss and cherish the days of Twitpic we had together."
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