AT&T loses lawsuit over Verizon's map commercial

It was almost a gimme. The lawsuit that AT&T filed over a Verizon commercial that compared the 3G coverage maps for the two providers in the U.S. was such a joke from the beginning, it was hard think that a judge would rule against Verizon.

Today, a federal judge in Atlanta declined AT&T's request for a temporary restraining order that would have forced Verizon to pull the ads, according to a CNET report.

AT&T had argued that timing was critical because the holiday season, which is a sales period for mobile devices, was approaching quickly and AT&T felt that the commercials were misleading consumers. At issue was the colors on the maps to represent 3G coverage - the AT&T map had a lot of "blank space' to represent areas in the U.S. that didn't have 3G coverage.

AT&T didn't dispute the accuracy of the maps and, in a court filing earlier this week, Verizon argued that the restraining order be denied because the maps were not factually incorrect. In short, Verizon said the ads were true and that the truth hurts.

Related coverage: Memo to AT&T: When you're in a hole, stop digging