Twitpic to stay alive with new owner

Twitpic is being acquired in a deal that will give renewed life to the widely used service for sharing pictures on Twitter.

It is a stark reversal in fortunes after Twitpic said in a blog post early this month that it would be shutting down on September 25 because its bid to trademark its name was being opposed by San Francisco-based Twitter.

"We're happy to announce we've been acquired and Twitpic will live on!" the company said in a message fired off on Twitter on Thursday.

Twitpic left the identity of the buyer a mystery, along with specifics of the take-over.

"We will post more details as we can disclose them," Twitpic said.

Twitter had threatened to essentially close the door to Twitpic photos or videos if the startup didn't withdraw its trademark application, according to the blog post.

Twitpic said it launched in early 2008 and filed to trademark its name with US patent officials the following year.

© 2014 AFP