Twitpic Is Dead -- This Time, For Real The photo-sharing and hosting service that couldn't afford a legal trademark battle with Twitter said it was closing down in September. Then, it was back! Update: Just kidding.
By Catherine Clifford •
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Oh what whiplash Noah Everett must have.
Twitpic, Everett's six-year-old photo hosting service, said in early September that it would be shutting down on Sept. 25. Twitpic provided a way for users to share and store pictures on Twitter even before the 140-character social media giant had incorporated photos into its stream. Twitpic launched in 2008 and a year later, Twitter started hosting photos.
Twitpic filed a trademark application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in August 2009. This past summer, Twitter contacted Twitpic arguing that the photo-sharing company's name infringed on Twitter's brand. Everett wrote in a blog post that his startup's pockets weren't deep enough to fight a trademark battle with Twitter.
Related: Gone in a Flash: Twitpic to Shut Down Following Dispute With Twitter
Then, on Sept. 18, Twitpic announced via Twitter that it had been acquired by an unnamed purchaser and that it would, in fact, live on. It was back from the dead!
Today, that about-face had an about-face. Everett updated the first blog post in which he announced that Twitpic would be shutting down and said that yes, in fact, Twitpic would be closing down -- this time, on Oct. 25.
"We worked through a handful of potential acquirers and exhausted all potential options. We were almost certain we had found a new home for Twitpic (hence our previous tweet), but agreeable terms could not be met," Everett wrote. "Normally we wouldn't announce something like that prematurely but we were hoping to let our users know as soon as possible that Twitpic was living on."
Related: Twitpic Gets New Lease on Life Thanks to Mystery Acquirer
Everett went on to say that he was "embarrassed" for the "false alarm."
Which brings up an important lesson: While social media moves quickly -- especially the 140-character tidal wave that is Twitter -- sometimes there is still room for patience. Just a wee bit.
