AT&T loses first legal battle against Verizon ads

From CNET News.com: AT&T has lost the first battle in a legal war against Verizon Wireless to force the company to stop showing advertisements that compare its 3G wireless network coverage with Verizon's coverage.

A federal judge in Atlanta on Wednesday declined to grant AT&T a temporary restraining order that would force Verizon to stop showing the ads.

AT&T filed a lawsuit in federal district court in Atlanta earlier this month asserting that Verizon Wireless' advertisements mislead customers by suggesting that AT&T subscribers cannot access wireless Internet services throughout its network. AT&T has called the ads blatantly false and has said that the commercials have caused irreparable harm to the company.

AT&T had asked the court to keep Verizon from running the advertisements until the matter is settled in court. But the judge on Wednesday declined this request.

The advertisements that Verizon is running show two maps that each indicate 3G wireless coverage. One map shows coverage for Verizon and the other depicts AT&T's coverage.

AT&T doesn't argue that the maps are incorrect in terms of showing its 3G coverage. But it says that Verizon is misleading customers by implying that they cannot use their phones or access the mobile Web when they aren't in 3G coverage areas. The reality is that customers can make phone calls and access the Internet from their phones using the company's slower EDGE or GPR networks.

View: Article @ Source Site