Court Ruling: AT&T's Aio Wireless Brand Infringes On T-Mobile's Magenta Trademark
The bad blood between AT&T and T-Mobile continues, as a federal court ruled that the former’s Aio Wireless brand infringed on the latter’s trademark magenta color. “The court agreed with us that Aio can't continue infringing T-Mobile's magenta mark by using large blocks of what it has called ‘plum,’ and told Aio to stop using magenta or similar colors in all of its marketing and advertising, including stores, web sites and social media,” said T-Mobile in a statement.
Looking at the colors side-by-side, it’s hard to agree with that assessment, but the whole thing is somewhat laughable because it turns the David (T-Mobile) and Goliath (AT&T) narrative on its head.
Above: Aio; below: T-Mobile. Do those look like the same colors to you?
T-Mobile has been painting itself, rather successfully, as the “uncarrier”, a refreshing alternative to the lumbering industry behemoth of AT&T and its restrictive contracts and confusing pricing. T-Mobile John Legere has been pulling stunts and making deals for months, taking shots at AT&T and drumming up loads of attention for his company.
However, Aio Wireless is AT&T’s--get ready for it--no contract, simply-priced, relatively inexpensive alternative to its own regular service plans. Those plans, incidentally, looked rather attractive at launch and now are even better.
You can get 500MB of monthly data with the $40 per month Basic plan; 2.5GB with the $50 Smart plan; or 5GB with the $60 Pro plan. You can also bring your own device to the service.
It’s hard to fault T-Mobile for taking a swipe at AT&T as the latter company lures customers with a compelling competing offer, but it does serve as a reminder that T-Mobile is a business like any other and not some benevolent savior of the mobile consumer.
Looking at the colors side-by-side, it’s hard to agree with that assessment, but the whole thing is somewhat laughable because it turns the David (T-Mobile) and Goliath (AT&T) narrative on its head.
Above: Aio; below: T-Mobile. Do those look like the same colors to you?
T-Mobile has been painting itself, rather successfully, as the “uncarrier”, a refreshing alternative to the lumbering industry behemoth of AT&T and its restrictive contracts and confusing pricing. T-Mobile John Legere has been pulling stunts and making deals for months, taking shots at AT&T and drumming up loads of attention for his company.
However, Aio Wireless is AT&T’s--get ready for it--no contract, simply-priced, relatively inexpensive alternative to its own regular service plans. Those plans, incidentally, looked rather attractive at launch and now are even better.
You can get 500MB of monthly data with the $40 per month Basic plan; 2.5GB with the $50 Smart plan; or 5GB with the $60 Pro plan. You can also bring your own device to the service.
It’s hard to fault T-Mobile for taking a swipe at AT&T as the latter company lures customers with a compelling competing offer, but it does serve as a reminder that T-Mobile is a business like any other and not some benevolent savior of the mobile consumer.
