Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Nextel Whines about Verizon's Use of "Push-To-Talk"

From: [email-masked]
Date: Thu, 21 Aug 2003 04:02:20 -0400

Nextel Whines about Verizon's Use of "Push-To-Talk"
Nextel Says Rival Stole Slogan

By Yuki Noguchi
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, August 21, 2003; Page E05

Nextel Communications Inc.
accused Verizon Wireless
yesterday of piggybacking on its
"push-to-talk" slogan for its
walkie-talkie phone service as the
rivals took their competition to
court.

Verizon Wireless, which introduced
earlier this week a phone that offers
a walkie-talkie feature similar to
Nextel's, sued Nextel in July over
the phrase, which it claimed was
generic and could not be
trademarked. Nextel's accusation
came in response to that lawsuit.

The filing is the latest development
in a larger battle between Nextel
and the rest of the wireless industry.
Until this week, Nextel was the only
company to offer the walkie-talkie
service on its cell phones, a
decade-old feature that is both
popular and very profitable for the
Reston-based firm. Now, with
Verizon and other cell phone
companies trying to compete for
customers by offering a similar
service, Nextel finds itself playing
defense.

"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 said in its filings with
the U.S. District Court in Delaware.

"We believe we have every legal
right to use the phrase 'push-to-talk'
to describe our product," because
Nextel has no exclusive right to it,
said Nancy Stark, a Verizon
Wireless spokeswoman.

The two companies are also
embroiled in another court battle. In
June, Verizon sued Nextel for
allegedly testing two of Verizon's
unreleased handsets without
Verizon's permission, and engaging
in "corporate espionage."

Nextel denies it received the
handsets through illegal means and
asked that the case be dismissed,
but that request was denied earlier
this month. Nextel's comments on
that case are due on Friday.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A23394-2003Aug20.html

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