AT&T And Citigroup End Legal Battle Over Trademark Infringement Claim

(RTTNews) - Citigroup Inc.(C) and AT&T Inc. (T) have decided to ended a legal battle over a trademark infringement claim on customer loyalty program.

Both the companies have dismissed their claims against each other with prejudice, which means the same lawsuit cannot be reignited at a later date.

Citigroup has had a loyalty program called "ThankYou from Citi" since 2004. Citi filed a suit in June alleging that AT&T's new "AT&T Thanks" program violates its trademark by causing confusion to customers.

A US Federal judge refused to block AT&T from using "AT&T thanks" for its customer loyalty program. Judge Katherine Forrest said that although both of the companies use similar words that convey a message of gratitude for their loyalty program, they cannot confuse customers because they are in different businesses-- banking versus telecommunications services.