AI Startup Perplexity Sued For Alleged Trademark Infringement

Perplexity, the venture-backed startup building AI-powered search products, has been sued in federal court for apparently violating another .

In a problem 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 firm founded in 2017, used to register the Perplexity trademark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in October 2021, according to the grievance.

Perplexity Solved Solutions mostly sells HR and work environment cooperation software, consisting of a combined control panel for HR analytics and a videoconferencing tool called Perplexity Meet. The business secured a hallmark registration by November 2022 and started promoting items 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 react since press time. TechCrunch will upgrade the post if either party remarks.

The Texas company alleges that AI startup Perplexity began infringing on its hallmark « in or around » August 2022 to promote its AI-powered online search engine. The month prior – July 2022 – Perplexity had signed up the domain perplexity.ai, which the grievance likewise declares is infringement.

« The [Perplexity] site currently located at the infringing domain prominently includes the Perplexity [trademark], » the grievance checks out, » [and] the infringing products and services are extremely similar to those offered by Perplexity [Solved Solutions] and appeal to a similar client base. For instance, Perplexity [Solved Solutions’] ‘Perplexity Meet’ and offender’s ‘Perplexity Spaces’ both are software platforms that help with interaction and partnership amongst associates in businesses and other companies. »

Perplexity Spaces, which the San Francisco-based AI startup introduced for enterprise clients in October, are centers with a customizable AI assistant and connectors to third-party platforms, apps, and file systems.

The grievance alleges that Perplexity has « filled the market » with its infringing branding, including marketing across its different social networks accounts. The AI startup declined to acquire the Perplexity hallmark in September 2023 when offered, per the problem, and instead chose to apply for its own hallmark with the USPTO, which is still pending.

According to the complaint, Perplexity didn’t abide by a stop and desist letter from Perplexity Solved Solutions’ counsel, and it hasn’t withdrawn its pending hallmark application – in spite of efforts to oppose the application before the USPTO’s trial and appeal board.

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

« In truth, upon details and belief, customers currently have been puzzled, » the problem checks out. « For instance, on various occasions, social networks users have actually ‘tagged’ Perplexity in their posts about defendant’s infringing goods and services. »

The complaint declares that Perplexity’s conduct breaches laws, including the Lanham Act – the U.S. federal law that regulates trademarks and unjust competitors. To name a few kinds of legal relief, Perplexity Solved Solutions is seeking to bar Perplexity from utilizing its hallmark, as well as the hallmark « Perplexity AI, » pay damages, and transfer ownership of any domains that include Perplexity branding.

It’s the current courtroom headache for Perplexity, which is presently battling a suit filed by News Corp’s Dow Jones and the NY Post over what the plaintiffs describe as a « content kleptocracy. » Many other news websites have revealed concerns that Perplexity closely duplicates their material – just last October, The New York Times sent out the start-up a stop and desist letter.

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