Aardvark
Voyager threatens litigation
Copyright © 1996 to Bruce Simpson
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'Tis the season to be jolly' - well at least I bet that's what Voyager and Telecom's lawyers are thinking at present.

The latest in the round of legal exchanges between Xtra and Voyager comes in the form of a warning from Voyager that Xtra should stop using the Voyager catch phrase "Discover the Internet".

Voyager says that they've been using this phrase since November 1995 and it has become a part of their image and branding. They claim that for Xtra to now start using it in its own promotions may confuse the market.

In a letter to Xtra, Voyager asks that Xtra cease all use of the phrase and withdraw and destroy all material, including CDROMS, which include it.

Of course some will see this as a "tit for tat" exercise, coming on the heels of Telecom's claims that use of the 0800-BUY-EXTRA number by Voyager constitutes passing off and may confuse the market.

One must wonder however - would any ISP actually want the business of a customer who was stupid enough to think that Xtra was Voyager or Voyager was Xtra simply because they share two or three words in their promotional and marketing info - or because they dial the wrong number? If they become confused at that stage - what chance will they have when it comes to using a PC, modem and the Internet?


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