AI Startup Perplexity Demanded Alleged Trademark Infringement

Perplexity, the venture-backed start-up building AI-powered search items, has actually been taken legal action against in federal court for allegedly breaching another company’s trademark.

In a grievance filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, attorneys representing a business called Perplexity Solved Solutions accuse 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 hallmark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in October 2021, according to the problem.

Perplexity Solved Solutions mostly offers HR and workplace cooperation software application, including a merged control panel for HR analytics and a videoconferencing tool called Perplexity Meet. The business secured a hallmark registration by November 2022 and started promoting products on its website, perplexityonline.com, a domain that Perplexity Solved Solutions had actually signed up in 2021.

Perplexity and counsel for Perplexity Solved Solutions did not respond since press time. TechCrunch will update the post if either party 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 registered the domain perplexity.ai, which the complaint also declares is violation.

“The [Perplexity] site presently located at the infringing domain name prominently includes the Perplexity [trademark],” the problem checks out,” [and] the infringing goods and services are extremely comparable to those offered by Perplexity [Solved Solutions] and interest a similar consumer base. For instance, Perplexity [Solved Solutions’] ‘Perplexity Meet’ and accused’s ‘Perplexity Spaces’ both are software platforms that help with communication and collaboration among coworkers in companies and other organizations.”

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

The grievance alleges that Perplexity has actually “filled the marketplace” with its infringing branding, including marketing across its different social networks accounts. The AI startup declined to acquire the Perplexity trademark in September 2023 when offered, per the grievance, and rather opted to file for its own hallmark with the USPTO, which is still pending.

According to the grievance, Perplexity didn’t abide by 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 sow confusion.

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

The problem declares that Perplexity’s conduct breaches laws, including the Lanham Act – the U.S. federal law that manages hallmarks and unfair competition. Among other kinds of legal relief, Perplexity Solved Solutions is looking for to bar Perplexity from utilizing its trademark, along with the trademark “Perplexity AI,” pay damages, and transfer ownership of any domains that include Perplexity branding.

It’s the current courtroom headache for Perplexity, which is currently fighting a suit submitted by News Corp’s Dow Jones and the NY Post over what the complainants describe as a “content kleptocracy.” Many other news sites have actually revealed issues that Perplexity carefully duplicates their material – simply last October, The New york city Times sent the a cease and desist letter.

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