Vonage sues AT&T
Vonage Sues AT&T for Trademark Infringement
By Martha McKay, The Record, Hackensack, N.J. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Mar. 30 - Vonage says AT&T is taking advantage.
The Edison-based Internet telephone start-up claims AT&T stepped on its cyber-turf when AT&T named its new Internet phone service "CallVantage" and registered some Web site names that sound close to Vonage's name.
Vonage makes its claims in a lawsuit filed last week in U.S. District Court in Trenton. The suit accuses AT&T of trademark infringement, among other things.
"It's about the brand name," said Vonage spokeswoman Brooke Schulz. "We're concerned that our brand is being infringed upon and we're concerned there will be confusion in the marketplace."
AT&T introduced "CallVantage," a service similar to Vonage's broadband phone service, in December and began selling service in New Jersey and Texas this month.
AT&T chose the name CallVantage "with the intent of causing confusion, mistake, and deception as to the source of its products and services, and with the intent to present its products and services as emanating from, or being associated with, Vonage," the lawsuit said.
AT&T spokesman Gary Morgenstern would not comment on the case except to say: "We think the lawsuit is totally without merit and we think we'll prevail in court."
Vonage is one of a handful of telephone providers offering a technology called Voice Over Internet Protocol, or VoIP, that has attracted much attention in the telecommunications industry.
The company was founded in January 2001 and grew quickly with its offer of unlimited local and long-distance phone service for a flat monthly fee to anyone with a high-speed broadband Internet connection. Vonage says it has more than 125,000 customers.
Because the technology transmits voice calls in the form of data, VoIP service offers more features. The calls also cost less because they bypass most or all of the traditional phone network.
Many large phone providers in the United States, such as AT&T and Verizon, as well as cable companies, have launched or plan to introduce VoIP services. Analysts predict that the VoIP method of transmitting calls will eventually replace the traditional phone network, although there is considerable debate as to when that might happen.
Vonage's additional claim against AT&T involves the practice by companies of purchasing the rights to Web site domain names with similar spellings to their own. Experts say companies may do this to ensure that potential customers who incorrectly type a Web site name will either be redirected to the correct site, or get an error message.
Vonage says in the suit that it has registered numerous Web site names in addition to its main site vonage.com, including callvonage.com, callvonage.net, and call|vontage.org.
The suit says that on Feb. 25, AT&T registered "callvontage.com, callvontage.net, callvontage.biz, call-vontage.com, call-vontage.biz, and call-vontage.net." Those Web sites direct users to www.register.com, one of numerous Web sites that let users register a Web site or "domain" name for a fee, and informs a user that the name was recently registered.
"AT&T has registered multiple domain names which it knows are confusingly similar to the inherently distinctive 'VONAGE' trademark," according to Vonage's suit.
"Trademark cases in heavily contested areas are not uncommon," said Jeffrey Weingart, a partner with Brown, Raysman, Millstein, Felder & Steiner, a New York law firm specializing in technology and intellectual property law.
"Voice Over IP is a very competitive market at the moment, so it's not surprising to see companies playing in that area with trademark disputes against one another." |
