Claiming the phrase “push to talk” as its property, Nextel Communications Inc. has filed a lawsuit against Verizon Wireless for using it in its advertising campaign launched recently for Verizon’s walkie-talkie service.
This lawsuit looks like a legal tit for tat between both companies and puts in perspective the beginnings of what might be a battle between Nextel and the competition over the technology.
“Verizon’s misappropriation and use of Nextel’s ‘push-to-talk’ mark is intended to trade off of the goodwill that Nextel has built up by promoting and selling its highly successful combination cellular phone/walkie-talkie under that mark,” Nextel stated in its fillings with the U.S. District Court in Delaware.
Verizon thinks otherwise, asserting that the phrase is generic.
“We believe we have every legal right to use the phrase ‘push to talk’ to describe our product,” Verizon spokeswoman Nancy Stark was quoted as saying.
Last June, Verizon sued Nextel for corporate espionage, claiming that Nextel obtained prototypes of its handsets with walkie-talkie functionality. Verizon also claimed that Nextel shared information on the workings of the handsets with an industry analyst.
