AI Startup Perplexity Demanded Alleged Trademark Infringement

Perplexity, the venture-backed start-up building AI-powered search products, has actually been sued in federal court for presumably breaking another company’s hallmark.

In a grievance submitted Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, lawyers representing a company called Perplexity Solved Solutions implicate Perplexity of infringing on its hallmark rights by utilizing the brand “Perplexity.”

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

Perplexity Solved Solutions mostly offers HR and work environment collaboration software application, consisting of an unified dashboard for HR analytics and a videoconferencing tool called Perplexity Meet. The company secured a hallmark registration by November 2022 and started 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 update the article if either celebration comments.

The Texas company declares that AI start-up Perplexity began infringing on its trademark “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 problem also declares is violation.

“The [Perplexity] website presently situated at the infringing domain name plainly includes the Perplexity [trademark],” the reads,” [and] the infringing products and services are extremely similar to those offered by Perplexity [Solved Solutions] and attract a similar customer base. For example, Perplexity [Solved Solutions’] ‘Perplexity Meet’ and defendant’s ‘Perplexity Spaces’ both are software application platforms that assist in interaction and partnership amongst associates in businesses and other companies.”

Perplexity Spaces, which the San Francisco-based AI startup released for business customers in October, are centers with an adjustable AI assistant and ports to third-party platforms, apps, and file systems.

The problem alleges that Perplexity has “saturated the market” with its infringing branding, consisting of marketing across its various social networks accounts. The AI start-up declined to purchase the Perplexity trademark in September 2023 when offered, per the problem, and rather opted to declare its own hallmark with the USPTO, which is still pending.

According to the problem, Perplexity didn’t comply with a stop and desist letter from Perplexity Solved Solutions’ counsel, and it hasn’t withdrawn its pending hallmark application – despite efforts to oppose the application before the USPTO’s trial and appeal board.

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

“In fact, upon info and belief, consumers already have been confused,” the problem checks out. “For example, on various celebrations, social networks users have actually ‘tagged’ Perplexity in their posts about defendant’s infringing items and services.”

The complaint alleges that Perplexity’s conduct breaches laws, consisting of the Lanham Act – the U.S. federal law that regulates hallmarks and unreasonable competition. To name a few types of legal relief, Perplexity Solved Solutions is looking for to bar Perplexity from utilizing its hallmark, along with the trademark “Perplexity AI,” pay damages, and transfer ownership of any domains that include Perplexity branding.

It’s the newest courtroom headache for Perplexity, which is currently battling a lawsuit submitted by News Corp’s Dow Jones and the NY Post over what the plaintiffs refer to as a “content kleptocracy.” Many other news websites have expressed issues that Perplexity closely replicates their content – simply last October, The New York Times sent out the start-up a stop and desist letter.

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