I wanted to sit down and write a post about T-Mobile’s aggressiveness against former would-be suitor AT&T T -0.33% without it sounding silly, but I can’t. That’s on account of T-Mobile is suing AT&T because its new low-cost and pre-paid service, Aio, has dared to use a shade of purple on its website. I like T-Mobile quite a bit and appreciate that they’re trying to disrupt the wireless market, but I feel like I need to point this out again: T-Mobile is suing AT&T because it’s subsidiary’s shade of purple is too close to its own trademark Magenta.
I would feel dumb typing that again, so if you would please re-read it, and then we’ll go on.
To be fair, it’s not just about the color; T-Mobile feels that Aio was createdspecifically to take aim at its own “un-carrier” ways, and that by offering similar no-contract plans as well as using purple, consumers may be confused.
According to the complaint filed with the court, T-mobile says, “With full knowledge of T-Mobile’s use of magenta, AT&T’s subsidiary chose — out of all the colors in the spectrum — magenta to advertise, market and promote its wireless services in direct competition with T-Mobile. Aio does not use the orange coverage map of its parent company, but instead uses in its stores and on its website a magenta coverage map that is strikingly similar in color to the one used by T-Mobile.”
Separately, a T-Mobile rep told me via email that, “When consumers see magenta in the wireless world, they think T-Mobile. But AT&T, through its subsidiary Aio Wireless, has been trying to get a free ride from T-Mobile’s success as America’s Un-carrier by using magenta in its marketing. We filed this lawsuit to stop them, and to protect T-Mobile’s powerful magenta trademark.” In an unrelated note, I’ll now be using “Powerful Magenta” as my hip-hop name.
When asked about the possibility that Aio could be trying to ride T-Mobile’s coattails with its branding, a spokesperson for Aio said, “T-Mobile needs an art lesson. Aio doesn’t do magenta.” When pressed on what color Aio does use, the spokesperson told me, “not magenta”.
source forbes
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