AI Startup Perplexity Sued For Alleged Trademark Infringement

Perplexity, the venture-backed startup building AI-powered search products, has been taken legal action against in federal court for supposedly violating another company’s hallmark.

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

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

Perplexity Solved Solutions mainly and office partnership software application, consisting of a merged dashboard for HR analytics and a videoconferencing tool called Perplexity Meet. The company protected a trademark registration by November 2022 and started promoting products on its website, perplexityonline.com, a domain that Perplexity Solved Solutions had actually registered in 2021.

Perplexity and counsel for Perplexity Solved Solutions did not respond since press time. TechCrunch will upgrade the post if either celebration comments.

The Texas business 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 registered the domain perplexity.ai, which the complaint also alleges is violation.

“The [Perplexity] site currently situated at the infringing domain prominently features the Perplexity [trademark],” the complaint reads,” [and] the infringing goods and services are extremely similar to those used by Perplexity [Solved Solutions] and appeal to a comparable consumer base. For instance, Perplexity [Solved Solutions’] ‘Perplexity Meet’ and accused’s ‘Perplexity Spaces’ both are software application platforms that assist in communication and partnership among colleagues in organizations and other companies.”

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

The grievance alleges that Perplexity has “saturated the marketplace” with its infringing branding, including marketing throughout its different social networks accounts. The AI start-up declined to buy the Perplexity trademark in September 2023 when provided, per the grievance, and instead opted to file 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 – regardless of efforts to oppose the application before the USPTO’s trial and appeal board.

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

“In truth, upon details and belief, customers already have actually been puzzled,” the problem reads. “For instance, on many events, social networks users have ‘tagged’ Perplexity in their posts about defendant’s infringing items and services.”

The complaint declares that Perplexity’s conduct breaches laws, consisting of the Lanham Act – the U.S. federal law that regulates hallmarks and unfair competitors. To name a few kinds 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 consist of Perplexity branding.

It’s the most recent courtroom headache for Perplexity, which is presently fighting a lawsuit filed 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 revealed concerns that Perplexity carefully duplicates their content – just last October, The New york city Times sent out the start-up a stop and desist letter.

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