AI Startup Perplexity Demanded Alleged Trademark Infringement

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

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 implicate Perplexity of infringing on its trademark rights by utilizing the brand name “Perplexity.”

Perplexity Solved Solutions, a Plano, Texas-based firm established 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 workplace collaboration software application, consisting of an unified dashboard for HR analytics and a videoconferencing tool called Perplexity Meet. The company protected a hallmark registration by November 2022 and began promoting items on its site, perplexityonline.com, a domain that Perplexity Solved Solutions had actually signed up in 2021.

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

The Texas business alleges that AI startup Perplexity started 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 infringement.

“The [Perplexity] website currently situated at the infringing domain plainly includes the Perplexity [hallmark],” the grievance checks out,” [and] the infringing products and services are highly similar to those provided by Perplexity [Solved Solutions] and appeal to a comparable client base. For instance, Perplexity [Solved Solutions’] ‘Perplexity Meet’ and defendant’s ‘Perplexity Spaces’ both are software platforms that help with communication and collaboration among coworkers in organizations and other companies.”

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

The grievance alleges that Perplexity has “saturated the market” with its infringing branding, consisting of marketing across its various social media accounts. The AI startup decreased to buy the Perplexity trademark in September 2023 when used, per the problem, and instead chose to submit for its own trademark with the USPTO, which is still pending.

According to the complaint, Perplexity didn’t comply with a cease 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 most likely to sow confusion.

“In reality, upon information and belief, customers currently have actually been puzzled,” the problem checks out. “For instance, on many events, social media users have ‘tagged’ Perplexity in their posts about offender’s infringing items and services.”

The complaint alleges that Perplexity’s conduct violates laws, including the Lanham Act – the U.S. federal law that controls hallmarks and unreasonable competitors. Among other forms of legal relief, Perplexity Solved Solutions is looking for to bar Perplexity from utilizing its hallmark, as well as the trademark “Perplexity AI,” pay damages, and transfer ownership of any domains that include Perplexity branding.

It’s the most recent for Perplexity, which is presently fighting a claim submitted by News Corp’s Dow Jones and the NY Post over what the complainants explain as a “content kleptocracy.” Many other news sites have revealed concerns that Perplexity closely reproduces their material – simply last October, The New York Times sent the start-up a cease and desist letter.

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