AT&T is suing Verizon in an effort to stop its mobile rival from using “misleading” coverage maps in advertisements that AT&T says are causing it to lose “incalculable market share.”  AT&T charges that the “There’s a map for that” commercials from Verizon Wireless are misleading. These plucky ads, which poke fun at the “There’s an app for that” campaign for AT&T’s hottest handset, the iPhone from Apple, display a map with most of the country in red, representing the area covered by Verizon’s fastest 3G data service. This is compared with another map, which has much less geography marked in blue, with the caption “AT&T 3G coverage.”

According to the lawsuit which AT&T filed in Atlanta federal court, the ad campaign misleads consumers into thinking AT&T has no network coverage outside of areas where it offers high-speed mobile services, known as third-generation or 3G.

AT&T argued that its customers can “fully use their wireless devices outside of a ‘3G’ coverage area and undisputedly have coverage in areas depicted by white or blank spaces on the maps used in Verizon’s advertisements.”

It asked the court for a temporary restraining order against Verizon Wireless so its rival cannot benefit from the ads while the court sets a date for a preliminary and permanent injunction hearing.