AI Startup Perplexity Sued For Alleged Trademark Infringement

Perplexity, the venture-backed start-up building AI-powered search products, has actually been taken legal action against in federal court for allegedly violating another business’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 “Perplexity.”

Perplexity Solved Solutions, a Plano, Texas-based firm established in 2017, applied to sign up the Perplexity hallmark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in October 2021, according to the complaint.

Perplexity Solved Solutions mainly offers HR and workplace cooperation software, including a combined dashboard for HR analytics and a videoconferencing tool called Perplexity Meet. The business protected a trademark registration by November 2022 and began promoting products 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 respond since press time. TechCrunch will update the article if either party comments.

The Texas company alleges that AI start-up Perplexity started infringing on its hallmark “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 likewise declares is violation.

“The [Perplexity] website currently located at the infringing domain plainly features the Perplexity [trademark],” the grievance reads,” [and] the infringing goods and services are highly comparable to those offered by Perplexity [Solved Solutions] and appeal to a similar consumer base. For example, Perplexity [Solved Solutions’] ‘Perplexity Meet’ and accused’s ‘Perplexity Spaces’ both are software platforms that assist in communication and partnership amongst associates in services and other organizations.”

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

The complaint alleges that Perplexity has actually “saturated the market” with its infringing branding, consisting of marketing across its different social media accounts. The AI start-up decreased to purchase the Perplexity trademark 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 complaint, Perplexity didn’t abide by 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 state that Perplexity’s usage of its hallmark is likely to sow confusion.

“In fact, upon info and belief, customers currently have actually been confused,” the problem checks out. “For instance, on numerous events, social media users have actually ‘tagged’ Perplexity in their posts about defendant’s infringing products and services.”

The problem declares that Perplexity’s conduct breaks laws, consisting of the Lanham Act – the U.S. federal law that regulates trademarks and unjust competition. To name a few kinds of legal relief, Perplexity Solved Solutions is looking for to bar Perplexity from utilizing its trademark, along with the hallmark “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 fighting a claim filed by News Corp’s Dow Jones and the NY Post over what the plaintiffs refer to as a “content kleptocracy.” Many other news sites have expressed concerns that Perplexity carefully duplicates their content – simply last October, The New york city Times sent out the start-up a cease and desist letter.

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