Nuvio takes Garmin to court

Overland Park (KS) – How close is “Nuvio” to “nüvi” ? The US District Court of Kansas is going to determine out if it’s too close.

By now, we are already used to the fact that someone is going to sue someone as soon as a highly publicized product has hit or is going to hit the market. Nuvio, which says it is a leading provider of on-demand business phone services, saw an opportunity with Garmin’s first cellphone, and claims that the nüviphone infringes on the Nuvio trademark.

Nuvio said that it attempted to reach a mutually satisfactory resolution with Garmin, but was unsuccessful in the end. Nuvio said that Garmin knowingly and willfully appropriated Nuvio’s trademark and, as a result, it will seek a permanent injunction that prohibits Garmin from using the “Nuvi” name.

"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," stated Jason Talley, Nuvio’s CEO. "Our customers commonly refer to our service as the Nuvio phone."

To us, these claims look a bit far-fetched, even for the sue-happy environment we live in. Besides the fact that Garmin has been using the “nüvi” brand for some time now, the correct pronunciation of the word nüvi is almost impossible to be mixed up with the pronunciation of “Nuvio”.

The nuvifone will be Garmin’s first cellphone, which is scheduled to become available in the third quarter of this year. It uses an iPhone-like design, but offers a range of GPS features at its heart.