Judge Orders Aio Wireless To Choose A Different Color

T-Mobile announced that it has chalked up a win over Aio Wireless regarding a trademark infringement lawsuit. T-Mobile believes Aio Wireless use of their "plum" color in its logo was too close to T-Mobile's own magenta color and branding. 

T-Mobile sued Aio Wireless stating the company switch colors to avoid consumer confusion. A federal court agreed with T-Mobile's position. Aio has been told to cease using the color in its marketing, advertising, stores, web sites, and social media. 

Aio Wireless is owned and operated by AT&T.


Source: T-Mobile

Moto G Coming To Aio Wireless On February 14th

AIO wireless customers beginning February 14 the Moto G will be available at a discounted $150 on Aio Wireless. In addition to the Moto G.

Aio is also offering customers the opportunity to pick up lower rates on service plans. Customers who sign up for auto-pay will receive a $5 discount on their monthly bills. The rates are as followed:

• Basic Plan: $35 (after auto pay credit) - unlimited voice/text and 500MB of data

• Smart Plan: $45 (after auto pay credit) - unlimited voice/text and 2.5 GB of data

• Pro Plan: $55 (after auto pay credit) - unlimited voice/text and 5 GB of data

Source: AIO Wireless

T-Mobile Sues AT&T's Aio Wireless

T-Mobile has used the color magenta to represent its brand for over a decade, and it's been far from shy about defending the hue from others. Now the carrier has filed its latest color-protecting complaint against AT&T, alleging in a suit on Friday that its competitor's new subsidiary, Aio Wireless, is using its own trademarked color to confuse consumers. "Out of all of the colors in the universe," T-Mobile's complaint reads, "Aio chose magenta."

The complaint draws connections between the launch of Aio, which relies on off-contract plans, and T-Mobile's own switch to off-contract plans, which occurred just months before. "AT&T set up Aio to compete directly with T-Mobile," the complaint reads. It argues that Aio's use of the color magenta "is likely to dilute T-Mobile’s famous magenta color trademark, and to create initial interest confusion." T-Mobile has been using magenta since 2002, but its parent company, Deutsche Telekom, has been using it as far back as the 1990s.

Aio Wireless does use a bright shade of purple, but it's far darker than T-Mobile's hot pink, which it calls magenta. "T-Mobile needs an art lesson," an Aio spokesperson tellsThe Verge. "Aio doesn't do magenta." T-Mobile includes several images in the complaint to illustrate the confusion it's hoping to prove. Among those are both its own and Aio's coverage maps, which display varying shades of purple across the United States.

T-Mobile has previously requested that entities which aren't wireless carriers cease using the color too, including Engadget Mobile back in 2008. Our own Nilay Patel, then writing for Engadget, notes that for such a lawsuit to succeed, T-Mobile would generally have to prove that its own color of magenta was in use, that it was being used in conjunction with a telecommunications product, and that its use could confuse or was intended to deceive consumers.

Aio Wireless Adds LTE Service

Aio Wireless today added LTE 4G to its service offering. Aio Wireless is a subsidiary of AT&T and offers no-contract wireless service in the U.S. The wireless network launched in Houston, Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville, and Gainesville, Fla., last month and today has expanded to Naples and Ft. Myers, Fla. Aio will gradually become available across AT&T's footprint around the U.S. over the course of the next year. Aio said that customers who already own LTE-capable equipment will receive an over-the-air update that adds support for Aio's LTE network. In addition to the availability of LTE, Aio also today announced the ZTE Overture, a new Android smartphone that will go one sale in July. The Overture has a 4-inch screen, 5-megapixel camera, front-facing camera, LTE, and support for memory cards up to 32GB. It runs Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, but pricing wasn't disclosed. Aio offers unlimited talk, text, and data plans that range from $35 to $70 per month to feature phones, smartphones, and tablets. In addition to the handsets it sells, Aio will also provide service to people who bring in their own, unlocked devices. Aio hopes to compete with other prepaid brands, such as Sprint's Virgin Mobile and T-Mobile's Ultra Mobile.