AI Startup Perplexity Sued For Alleged Trademark Infringement

Perplexity, the venture-backed start-up structure AI-powered search products, has actually been sued in federal court for allegedly breaking another company’s trademark.

In a complaint 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 name “Perplexity.”

Perplexity Solved Solutions, a Plano, Texas-based firm 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 problem.

Perplexity Solved Solutions primarily sells HR and work environment collaboration software, including a combined control panel for HR analytics and a videoconferencing tool called Perplexity Meet. The company secured a trademark registration by November 2022 and began 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 respond as of press time. TechCrunch will upgrade 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 online search engine. The month prior – July 2022 – Perplexity had actually registered the domain perplexity.ai, which the complaint likewise alleges is infringement.

“The [Perplexity] site presently situated at the infringing domain prominently features the Perplexity [trademark],” the grievance reads,” [and] the infringing goods and services are highly comparable to those provided by Perplexity [Solved Solutions] and appeal to a comparable client base. For example, Perplexity [Solved Solutions’] ‘Perplexity Meet’ and defendant’s ‘Perplexity Spaces’ both are software application platforms that assist in interaction and collaboration among associates in organizations and other companies.”

Perplexity Spaces, which the San Francisco-based AI startup released for business consumers in October, are centers with a personalized AI assistant and ports to third-party platforms, apps, and file systems.

The grievance declares that Perplexity has “saturated the market” with its infringing branding, consisting of marketing across its different social media accounts. The AI startup declined to buy the Perplexity hallmark in September 2023 when used, per the problem, and instead chose to declare its own trademark with the USPTO, which is still pending.

According to the complaint, Perplexity didn’t adhere to a cease 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 use of its hallmark is most likely to plant confusion.

“In fact, upon information and belief, customers already have actually been puzzled,” the problem reads. “For instance, on numerous occasions, social media users have actually ‘tagged’ Perplexity in their posts about offender’s infringing items and services.”

The grievance alleges that Perplexity’s conduct breaks laws, consisting of the Lanham Act – the U.S. federal law that trademarks and unreasonable competitors. Among other types of legal relief, Perplexity Solved Solutions is seeking to bar Perplexity from using its hallmark, in addition to 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 suit submitted 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 expressed concerns that Perplexity closely duplicates their content – just last October, The New York Times sent out the start-up a stop and desist letter.

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