A few weeks ago you'll recall that AT&T sued Verizon Wireless for a new series of advertisements poking fun at AT&T's 3G network performance and coverage. Specifically, AT&T told us they believed the ads "mislead customers into believing that AT&T does not offer any wireless service in the vast majority of the country," despite the fact that the ads simply compared 3G coverage only (see example ad). What followed was several weeks of media coverage, which actually made things worse for AT&T -- by highlighting the very lack of 3G coverage and poor network performance AT&T's been trying to downplay for months.

After all of that extensive sound and fury, AT&T sent us an e-mail this afternoon noting that the dispute has been settled, and AT&T has agreed to drop their case. Aside from providing us with the appropriate legal documentation (1, 2 pdf), AT&T wouldn't comment on why the case was dropped, though given the courts already denied AT&T's request to have the ads pulled, it's likely because AT&T lawyers didn't think they had much of a shot in winning.

Interestingly, the documents highlight how Verizon dropped a case of their own that they'd filed against AT&T back in July, asking the courts to rule their claims of having the "Most Reliable 3G Network" were actually true. Verizon, you'll recall, recently got the National Advertising Division of the Better Business Bureau to rule they, not Sprint, could claim the most dependable 3G network in ads.

It's really all been a bit silly, given the only thing really accomplished by the media blood feud was that millions more people saw AT&T and Verizon advertisements ahead of the busy Christmas shopping season. Hey, wait a minute....