AI Startup Perplexity Sued For Alleged Trademark Infringement

Perplexity, the venture-backed startup building AI-powered search items, has been taken legal action against in federal court for presumably breaching another business’s hallmark.

In a complaint 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 firm founded in 2017, applied to sign up the Perplexity trademark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in October 2021, according to the complaint.

Perplexity Solved Solutions primarily sells HR and work environment partnership software, consisting of a combined control panel for HR analytics and a videoconferencing tool called Perplexity Meet. The company secured a trademark registration by November 2022 and began promoting products on its website, .com, a domain that Perplexity Solved Solutions had registered in 2021.

Perplexity and counsel for Perplexity Solved Solutions did not respond since press time. TechCrunch will update the article if either party comments.

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

“The [Perplexity] site currently located at the infringing domain plainly features the Perplexity [trademark],” the problem reads,” [and] the infringing items and services are highly similar to those used by Perplexity [Solved Solutions] and attract a similar customer base. For example, Perplexity [Solved Solutions’] ‘Perplexity Meet’ and accused’s ‘Perplexity Spaces’ both are software platforms that help with interaction and partnership among colleagues in companies and other organizations.”

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

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

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

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

“In reality, upon information and belief, customers currently have been puzzled,” the grievance checks out. “For instance, on various occasions, social networks users have ‘tagged’ Perplexity in their posts about accused’s infringing goods and services.”

The problem declares that Perplexity’s conduct breaches laws, including the Lanham Act – the U.S. federal law that manages hallmarks and unreasonable competition. To name a few forms of legal relief, Perplexity Solved Solutions is looking for to bar Perplexity from utilizing its trademark, in addition to the trademark “Perplexity AI,” pay damages, and transfer ownership of any domains that include Perplexity branding.

It’s the latest courtroom headache for Perplexity, which is presently 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 revealed issues that Perplexity closely duplicates their content – just last October, The New York Times sent out the start-up a cease and desist letter.

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