Corporate telephone service provider Nuvio Corp. has filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against Garmin International Inc., alleging its forthcoming Nuvifone infringes Nuvio’s trademark.Garmin has been making its Nuvi line of personal navigation devices (PNDs) for several years; in January it announced that it would be introducing a GPS-enabled smartphone, the aforementioned Nuvifone, in the third quarter of this year. Nuvio said it has attempted to resolve its conflict with Garmin out of court prior to filing its suit in the U.S. District Court of Kansas.

“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 CEO. “Our customers commonly refer to our service as the Nuvio phone.”

In addition to a determination that Garmin has infringed on the Nuvio trademark, Nuvio seeks a permanent injunction that prohibits Garmin from using the Nuvi name, as well as damages, the company said.

via GPS World