AI Startup Perplexity Sued For Alleged Trademark Infringement

Perplexity, the venture-backed startup search items, has actually been taken legal action against in federal court for presumably breaking another company’s hallmark.

In a complaint submitted 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 name “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 complaint.

Perplexity Solved Solutions mainly sells HR and workplace cooperation software, consisting of a merged dashboard for HR analytics and a videoconferencing tool called Perplexity Meet. The company secured a hallmark registration by November 2022 and started promoting items on its site, perplexityonline.com, a domain that Perplexity Solved Solutions had actually registered in 2021.

Perplexity and counsel for Perplexity Solved Solutions did not react as of press time. TechCrunch will upgrade the post if either celebration remarks.

The Texas business declares that AI start-up Perplexity began infringing on its trademark “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 also alleges is infringement.

“The [Perplexity] site currently situated at the infringing domain name plainly features the Perplexity [hallmark],” the complaint checks out,” [and] the infringing products and services are extremely similar to those offered by Perplexity [Solved Solutions] and interest a comparable customer base. For example, Perplexity [Solved Solutions’] ‘Perplexity Meet’ and accused’s ‘Perplexity Spaces’ both are software platforms that facilitate communication and cooperation among coworkers in businesses and other companies.”

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

The problem alleges that Perplexity has “saturated the marketplace” with its infringing branding, consisting of marketing across its various social networks accounts. The AI startup declined to acquire the Perplexity hallmark in September 2023 when offered, per the complaint, and instead chose to apply for its own hallmark with the USPTO, which is still pending.

According to the complaint, Perplexity didn’t comply with a stop 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 trademark is likely to plant confusion.

“In fact, upon information and belief, consumers currently have been puzzled,” the grievance checks out. “For instance, on numerous occasions, social networks users have ‘tagged’ Perplexity in their posts about offender’s infringing goods and services.”

The grievance alleges that Perplexity’s conduct breaches laws, including the Lanham Act – the U.S. federal law that regulates trademarks and unfair competitors. To name a few forms 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 battling 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 replicates their content – just last October, The New york city Times sent the startup a cease and desist letter.

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