Twitpic shutting down over trademark disputes with Twitter

TORONTO – Photo-sharing service Twitpic is shutting down following a trademark dispute with Twitter.

According to a statement posted on the company’s blog, Twitter demanded that Twitpic drop its trademark application or risk losing access to Twitter’s API (application programming interface) – preventing Twitpic from developing services for the site.

“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.”

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Twitpic, which gained a loyal following shortly after its 2008 launch, originally filed for trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office in 2009.

According to Everett, Twitter contacted Twitpic’s legal counsel during the “published for opposition” phase of the trademark process.

“We’re sad to see Twitpic is shutting down,” a Twitter spokesperson said in a statement.

“We encourage developers to build on top of the Twitter service, as Twitpic has done for years, and we made it clear that they could operate using the Twitpic name. Of course, we also have to protect our brand, and that includes trademarks tied to the brand.”

Twitpic became widely popular during Twitter’s early years, mainly due to the fact that Twitter didn’t have a native photo-sharing feature for its users.

Some of Twitter’s most iconic early moments came from Twitpic users – including the image of a US Airways plane that landed on the Hudson River in New York City.

Twitter introduced a photo-sharing feature in 2011 to compete with third-party apps like Twitpic.

What will happen to all of the Twitpic photos?

Twitpic will officially shut down on September 25, which means thousands of pictures will go missing from Twitter.

According to Everett’s blog post, Twitpic will implement a feature that allows users to export all of their photos and videos. He said the feature will go live in “the next few days.”

While that may be good news for users, Twitpic’s demise means there will be thousands of broken image links all over Twitter – including that famous image of the plan on the Hudson.