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AI Startup Perplexity Demanded Alleged Trademark Infringement
Perplexity, the venture-backed startup building AI-powered search products, has been taken legal action against in federal court for allegedly breaching another business’s trademark.
In a complaint filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, lawyers representing a company called Perplexity Solved Solutions accuse Perplexity of infringing on its hallmark rights by using the brand “Perplexity.”
Perplexity Solved Solutions, a Plano, Texas-based firm established in 2017, applied to register the Perplexity trademark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in October 2021, according to the complaint.
Perplexity Solved Solutions mostly sells HR and work environment partnership software application, including a merged control panel for HR analytics and a videoconferencing tool called Perplexity Meet. The business protected a trademark registration by November 2022 and started promoting products on its website, perplexityonline.com, a domain that Solutions had actually signed up in 2021.
Perplexity and counsel for Perplexity Solved Solutions did not react since press time. TechCrunch will update the article if either celebration comments.
The Texas business alleges that AI start-up Perplexity started 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] website presently situated at the infringing domain name plainly features the Perplexity [trademark],” the problem reads,” [and] the infringing items and services are extremely comparable to those used by Perplexity [Solved Solutions] and interest a comparable consumer base. For instance, Perplexity [Solved Solutions’] ‘Perplexity Meet’ and offender’s ‘Perplexity Spaces’ both are software platforms that help with interaction and partnership among coworkers in services and other companies.”
Perplexity Spaces, which the San Francisco-based AI startup released for business customers in October, are hubs with an adjustable AI assistant and adapters to third-party platforms, apps, and file systems.
The complaint declares that Perplexity has “filled the market” with its infringing branding, including marketing throughout its different social networks accounts. The AI start-up declined to acquire the Perplexity trademark in September 2023 when offered, per the problem, and rather opted to submit for its own trademark with the USPTO, which is still pending.
According to the problem, 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 use of its trademark is likely to sow confusion.
“In reality, upon information and belief, customers currently have actually been confused,” the complaint checks out. “For instance, on numerous events, social media users have actually ‘tagged’ Perplexity in their posts about accused’s infringing goods and services.”
The problem alleges that Perplexity’s conduct breaches laws, consisting of the Lanham Act – the U.S. federal law that regulates hallmarks and unjust competition. To name a few forms of legal relief, Perplexity Solved Solutions is seeking 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 newest courtroom headache for Perplexity, which is presently fighting a claim submitted by News Corp’s Dow Jones and the NY Post over what the complainants describe as a “content kleptocracy.” Many other news websites have expressed concerns that Perplexity carefully duplicates their content – just last October, The New York Times sent the start-up a stop and desist letter.
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