AT&T gives up on Verizon ad lawsuit

AT&T has dismissed its lawsuit against Verizon Wireless for using an advertisement that AT&T complained confused customers about its 3G wireless coverage.

On Wednesday, AT&T formally dismissed the lawsuit. Last month, the wireless operator suffered a major legal setback when a judge rejected the company's request to force Verizon to pull its "There's A Map For That" advertising campaign.

AT&T filed its lawsuit in federal court in Atlanta in early November asserting that Verizon Wireless' advertisements mislead customers by suggesting that AT&T subscribers cannot access wireless Internet services throughout its network. AT&T has called the ads blatantly false and has said that the commercials have caused irreparable harm to the company.

The advertisements that Verizon is running show two maps that each indicate 3G wireless coverage. One map shows coverage for Verizon and the other depicts AT&T's coverage. Verizon just recently started airing another commercial that depicts Santa Claus' reindeer referring to Verizon's and AT&T's 3G coverage maps.

AT&T has also started running its own advertisements that are critical of Verizon Wireless. The ads feature Luke Wilson and slam Verizon for not allowing users to talk and surf the Web at the same time, something that wireless subscribers can do on AT&T smartphones.

Verizon Wireless declined to comment on the news of the dismissal. And AT&T also declined to comment further on the matter.