A few weeks ago, Garmin introduced nuvifone, a device combines the features of its nuvi line of GPS navigators with that multimedia phone. Unfortunately for Garmin, the global positioning specialist may have stepped on the trademarks of another company, Nuvio - an Internet telephone provider - in the process.

Nuvio says it sent a cease-and-desist letter to get Garmin to stop using "nuvi" in its products names at the end of January. That failed to get the response Nuvio wanted.

So, earlier week, it filed a trademark infringement lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Kansas. Nuvio is seeking a permanent injunction to stop Garmin from using "nuvi" and damages.

The suite doesn't just apply to Garmin's upcoming nuviphone, but its successful line of Nuvi GPS navigators as well.

"Our customers commonly refer to our service as the Nuvio phone," said Nuvio CEO Jason Talley in a statement.

Meanwhile, Garmin's been using Nuvi in the name of its products since early 2006 in North America and even before that in Europe, according to a spokesperson.

More on Nuvifone
Nuvifone, which isn't supposed to ship until the third quarter, sports a touch screen-measuring 3.5 inches. Turn the screen on and you'll see icons labeled Call, Search, and View Map, representing the phone's most important functions.

It allows drivers to find a specific street address, establishment names or search for a destination by category using a database with millions of points of interest. These points of interests are supposed to be enhanced through support for Google local search capability, which nuvifone links to through a 3G cellular-wireless data connection.

Turn-by-turn, voice-prompted directions guide the user to their destination. If they miss a turn along the route, nuvifone - as with nuvi - automatically recalculates the route and gets them back on track, speaking the names of the streets along the way.

In addition to Web browsing, users can make use of nuvifone's wireless connectivity to send and receive e-mail, text, and instant messages, and to subscribe to Garmin Online to receive constantly updated real-time traffic, fuel prices, stock prices, sport scores, news reports, local events and weather forecasts.

Nuvifone, which can play music and video, allows you snap a picture and have it automatically tagged with the exact latitude and longitude reference of where it was taken. The phone also provides direct access to millions of geo-located landmark and sightseeing photographs at Google's Panoramio picture sharing site.

[via yahoo]