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AI Startup Perplexity Sued For Alleged Trademark Infringement

Perplexity, the venture-backed startup AI-powered search products, has been sued in federal court for allegedly violating another business’s hallmark.

In a complaint submitted 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 utilizing the brand “Perplexity.”

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

Perplexity Solved Solutions mainly offers HR and office cooperation software, including a combined dashboard for HR analytics and a videoconferencing tool called Perplexity Meet. The business protected a hallmark registration by November 2022 and started 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 update the article if either celebration remarks.

The Texas business declares that AI startup 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 actually registered the domain perplexity.ai, which the complaint likewise alleges is infringement.

“The [Perplexity] site currently located at the infringing domain plainly features the Perplexity [hallmark],” the grievance checks out,” [and] the infringing items and services are highly similar to those provided by Perplexity [Solved Solutions] and attract a comparable customer base. For instance, Perplexity [Solved Solutions’] ‘Perplexity Meet’ and defendant’s ‘Perplexity Spaces’ both are software application platforms that help with interaction and collaboration amongst colleagues in companies and other organizations.”

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

The problem alleges that Perplexity has actually “saturated the marketplace” with its infringing branding, including marketing throughout its numerous social media accounts. The AI start-up declined to purchase the Perplexity hallmark in September 2023 when provided, per the grievance, and rather opted to file for its own trademark 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 hallmark application – regardless of 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 trademark is most likely to plant confusion.

“In truth, upon info and belief, customers currently have actually been puzzled,” the problem checks out. “For instance, on many events, social networks users have ‘tagged’ Perplexity in their posts about accused’s infringing products and services.”

The problem declares that Perplexity’s conduct violates laws, consisting of the Lanham Act – the U.S. federal law that manages hallmarks and unjust competitors. Among other types of legal relief, Perplexity Solved Solutions is looking for to bar Perplexity from utilizing its trademark, as well as the hallmark “Perplexity AI,” pay damages, and transfer ownership of any domains that consist of Perplexity branding.

It’s the most current courtroom headache for Perplexity, which is presently fighting a claim submitted by News Corp’s Dow Jones and the NY Post over what the plaintiffs refer to as a “content kleptocracy.” Many other news websites have actually revealed issues that Perplexity closely reproduces their content – just last October, The New york city Times sent the startup a stop and desist letter.

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