Overland Park, Kan. — Nuvio is suing Garmin over its use of the name Nuvifone for Garmin’s new GPS/mobile phone.
Nuvio filed a trademark infringement suit against Garmin today in the U.S. District Court of Kansas. Nuvio provides on-demand business phone service and has a trademark for its “Nuvio phones.”
Nuvio said its attempt to reach a mutually satisfactory resolution with Garmin over the trademark dispute was unsuccessful.
“While we would have preferred to settle this without resorting to a lawsuit, we felt it was important to ensure that our customers and potential customers are not confused by someone abusing our legally protected trademark,” said Jason. Talley, Nuvio’s CEO. “Our customers commonly refer to our service as the Nuvio phone.”
Nuvio is seeking a permanent injunction that prohibits Garmin from using the Nuvi name and damages for past infringement. The company said it issued a cease and desist letter to Garmin on Jan. 31.
Garmin recently unveiled the Nuvifone, billed as the industry’s first personal navigation device that doubles as a smartphone. It expects to ship the Nuvifone in the third quarter at a price to be announced.
Garmin said it does not comment on pending litigation.
