AI Startup Perplexity Sued For Alleged Trademark Infringement

Perplexity, the venture-backed startup building AI-powered search items, has actually been sued in federal court for allegedly violating another business’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 using the brand “Perplexity.”

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

Perplexity Solved Solutions primarily sells HR and workplace partnership software, consisting of a combined dashboard for HR analytics and a videoconferencing tool called Perplexity Meet. The a hallmark registration by November 2022 and started promoting products 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 remarks.

The Texas business declares 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 problem likewise alleges is infringement.

“The [Perplexity] website presently located at the infringing domain name plainly features the Perplexity [hallmark],” the complaint checks out,” [and] the infringing goods and services are highly comparable to those offered by Perplexity [Solved Solutions] and interest a similar consumer base. For example, Perplexity [Solved Solutions’] ‘Perplexity Meet’ and accused’s ‘Perplexity Spaces’ both are software platforms that help with interaction and collaboration among associates in businesses and other organizations.”

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

The complaint declares that Perplexity has “saturated the market” with its infringing branding, consisting of marketing across its different social media accounts. The AI startup decreased to acquire the Perplexity hallmark in September 2023 when offered, per the grievance, and rather decided to apply 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 – regardless of 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 trademark is likely to sow confusion.

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

The complaint declares that Perplexity’s conduct breaks laws, consisting of 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 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 most recent courtroom headache for Perplexity, which is currently battling a lawsuit submitted by News Corp’s Dow Jones and the NY Post over what the complainants refer to as a “content kleptocracy.” Many other news sites have actually revealed issues that Perplexity carefully replicates their material – just last October, The New York Times sent the start-up a cease and desist letter.

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