[UPDATE BELOW]

One of the cleverest media parody accounts on Twitter, "The Times Is ON IT," has gone poof, apparently because it's so spot-on the Times worries people will get confused and think it's real. "The Times Is ON IT," which lampoons the Paper of Record's tendency to belatedly weigh in on obvious stuff the Internet has chewed up and spat out a dozen times over, was suspended by Twitter last night. Benjamin Kabak, the owner of the account, explains on Facebook:

Twitter has suspended my account over a claim from The Times that my avatar violates a trademark. I say fair use. Right now, I'm waiting for Twitter to process my request to fix the problem so I can get the account reenabled. But feel free to spread the word over how the country's largest newspaper feels threatened by a small Twitter account right now.

NY Times spokesperson Eileen Murphy confirms: "We did file a complaint with Twitter and it is our understanding that they have suspended this account for a violation of Twitter's terms of service. We're not seeking to disable the account, however it is important to The Times that our trademark is protected and that it is clear to all users of Twitter that parody accounts or other unofficial Times accounts are not affiliated nor endorsed by The Times."

On his personal Twitter account, Kabak says that the parody account's Twitter bio "now clearly states it's a parody account." But for now the account is disappeared. For what it's worth (a whole HELL of a lot!), Time Magazine included The Times Is ON IT in its roundup of the 140 best Twitter accounts of all 2012.

Update 10:20 a.m.:It's back! Kabak says, "Twitter has reenabled my account with the threat that if they receive another complaint, it could be subject to "permanent deletion." So in the interest of avoiding that fate, let's open up the floor to a little design contest. I'd love to see some avatar submissions that I could use and not annoy anyone. The winner will get a hat tip on the Twitter feed. (Small beans, I know.) Email entries to [email protected]."

Psyched for next month's Times Thursday Style section piece on how Twitter users are crowdsourcing their avatar designs.