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Nextel Claims Trademarks On "Push To Talk" and "PTT"

Posted by timothy on from the down-with-ptt dept.

dmurawsky writes "According to an article at Forbes, Nextel announced that it had been awarded a primary trademark for the term 'PTT' and a Secondary trademark for 'Push To Talk.' Now maybe it's just me, but this term has been used in the radio world for around 60 years. I would have thought it was in the public domain by now. I wonder how Motorola or other radio manufacturers are going to take this. Here's a discussion of the topic at QRZ, an amateur radio forum." Update: 06/24 01:03 GMT by T : Thanks to reader Dan Horn for pointing out the flubbed original headline: Yes, this is about trademarks, rather than patents.

6 of 44 comments (clear)

  1. Not A Big Deal by Bistronaut · · Score: 2, Informative

    This is just a trademark. Not a patent. Trademarks like this are only applicable within their industry. Now, they may be some pretty silly trademarks, but they only affect how you can market you competing "push to talk" service - they don't keep you from making it in the first place.

  2. Toll charges for local calls... by wolf- · · Score: 2, Informative

    We also received notice today from Nextel informing us that some folks in our local exchanges may be charged to call our nextel phones.

    Nextel claims the decision was not theirs, but the paper states that Nextel used to absorb the call termination fees. Sure sounds like their "decision" to no longer absorb the fees.

    They can't tell us who they are in a pissing contest with, but from the wording on the notice, and from the wording on the nextel customer service reps screen, I would guess it is Bellsouth.

    As for PTT and "Push to Talk" I also would have thought those terms are "common usage" terms by now.

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    ----- LoboSoft specializes in Digital Language Lab
    1. Re:Toll charges for local calls... by DigitalJEM · · Score: 2, Informative

      Actually they are going to keep the iDEN network for the direct connect from what I understand. They are only going to change the cellular side of things to possible CDMA (in the talks). So it's likely we will soon see dual-mode/tri-mode phones.

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      -Joshua
    2. Re:Toll charges for local calls... by DigitalJEM · · Score: 2, Informative

      found a website you should take a look at adolf http://www.mobileinfo.com/Wireless_Networks/wirele ss_wan_esmr.htm Here we go: ""a start-up company named FleetCall aggregated the assets of several fleet dispatchers (taxi companies, construction companies and others in similar businesses) and implemented a completely new digital wireless network called Nextel. Nextel also has an equity share in Clearnet in Ontario, which has implemented a similar network in Canada. Nextel and Clearnet combined provide a coast-to-coast continental ESMR service now.""

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      -Joshua
  3. Re:Amateur Radio by Micro$will · · Score: 2, Informative

    Shit, HAMs have been building their own satellites for some time now....

    HAMs don't need no stinking satellites, that's what the ionosphere is for. As for pooling resources, they've been chatting it up around the world before the Internet was a gleam in Al Gore's eye.

  4. Re:Better question by DigitalJEM · · Score: 2, Informative

    No. Nextel was originally a two way radio only and they ADDED cellular to it.. It is much like Private Ham radio in a way. The key here is they added cellular to their ESMR network.. They aren't adding PTT to their cellular network (like all the other carriers)

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    -Joshua