AI Startup Perplexity Demanded Alleged Trademark Infringement

Perplexity, the venture-backed startup building AI-powered search items, has actually been sued in federal court for supposedly breaking another company’s trademark.

In a problem filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, lawyers representing a company called Perplexity Solved Solutions accuse Perplexity of infringing on its hallmark rights by using the brand “Perplexity.”

Perplexity Solved Solutions, a Plano, Texas-based firm established in 2017, used to register the Perplexity hallmark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in October 2021, according to the complaint.

Perplexity Solved Solutions mainly sells HR and workplace collaboration software application, including a merged dashboard for HR analytics and a videoconferencing tool called Perplexity Meet. The business secured a hallmark registration by November 2022 and began promoting products on its site, perplexityonline.com, a domain that Perplexity Solved Solutions had actually registered in 2021.

Perplexity and counsel for Perplexity Solved Solutions did not react as of press time. TechCrunch will upgrade the article if either celebration comments.

The Texas company declares that AI start-up Perplexity started infringing on its hallmark “in or around” August 2022 to promote its AI-powered online search engine. The month prior – July 2022 – Perplexity had actually signed up the domain perplexity.ai, which the complaint likewise declares is violation.

“The [Perplexity] website currently located at the infringing domain prominently includes the Perplexity [hallmark],” the problem checks out,” [and] the infringing items and services are extremely similar to those offered by Perplexity [Solved Solutions] and appeal to a comparable customer base. For example, Perplexity [Solved Solutions’] ‘Perplexity Meet’ and defendant’s ‘Perplexity Spaces’ both are software platforms that assist in communication and partnership amongst associates in businesses and other companies.”

Perplexity Spaces, which the San Francisco-based AI start-up released for enterprise consumers in October, are hubs with a personalized AI assistant and adapters to third-party platforms, apps, and file systems.

The grievance declares that Perplexity has “filled the marketplace” with its infringing branding, consisting of marketing throughout its different social networks accounts. The AI startup declined to buy the Perplexity hallmark in September 2023 when offered, per the problem, and instead chose to apply for its own hallmark with the USPTO, which is still pending.

According to the problem, Perplexity didn’t abide by a cease and desist letter from Perplexity Solved Solutions’ counsel, and it hasn’t withdrawn its pending hallmark application – in spite of efforts to oppose the application before the USPTO’s trial and appeal board.

Attorneys for Perplexity Solved Solutions state that Perplexity’s usage of its hallmark is most likely to plant confusion.

“In truth, upon information and belief, consumers already have been confused,” the problem reads. “For instance, on various events, social networks users have ‘tagged’ Perplexity in their posts about offender’s infringing goods and services.”

The problem alleges that Perplexity’s conduct violates laws, consisting of the Lanham Act – the U.S. that manages trademarks and unfair competition. Among other types of legal relief, Perplexity Solved Solutions is seeking to bar Perplexity from utilizing its hallmark, in addition to the trademark “Perplexity AI,” pay damages, and transfer ownership of any domains that consist of Perplexity branding.

It’s the most recent courtroom headache for Perplexity, which is currently battling a claim submitted by News Corp’s Dow Jones and the NY Post over what the complainants refer to as a “content kleptocracy.” Many other news websites have actually expressed issues that Perplexity closely reproduces their content – simply last October, The New york city Times sent the start-up a cease and desist letter.

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