AI Startup Perplexity Demanded Alleged Trademark Infringement

Perplexity, the venture-backed startup building AI-powered search products, has been sued in federal court for supposedly breaking another company’s hallmark.

In a grievance submitted Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, lawyers representing a business called Perplexity Solved Solutions implicate Perplexity of infringing on its trademark rights by using the brand name “Perplexity.”

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

Perplexity Solved Solutions primarily offers HR and workplace cooperation software application, consisting of a combined dashboard for HR analytics and a videoconferencing tool called Perplexity Meet. The business protected a hallmark registration by November 2022 and began 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 respond since press time. TechCrunch will update the short article if either celebration remarks.

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 actually signed up the domain perplexity.ai, which the complaint also alleges is infringement.

“The [Perplexity] site presently located at the infringing domain name plainly features the Perplexity [hallmark],” the complaint reads,” [and] the infringing items and services are highly similar to those used by Perplexity [Solved Solutions] and interest a comparable client base. For instance, Perplexity [Solved Solutions’] ‘Perplexity Meet’ and offender’s ‘Perplexity Spaces’ both are software application platforms that help with interaction and collaboration among colleagues in companies and other organizations.”

Perplexity Spaces, which the San Francisco-based AI startup introduced for enterprise customers in October, are hubs with an adjustable AI assistant and connectors to third-party platforms, apps, and file systems.

The problem alleges that Perplexity has actually “filled the market” with its infringing branding, including marketing across its numerous social media accounts. The AI startup decreased to buy the Perplexity trademark in September 2023 when used, per the complaint, and rather decided to apply for its own trademark with the USPTO, which is still pending.

According to the grievance, Perplexity didn’t adhere to a stop and desist letter from Perplexity Solved Solutions’ counsel, and it hasn’t withdrawn its pending hallmark 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 most likely to plant confusion.

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

The problem alleges that Perplexity’s conduct violates laws, including the Lanham Act – the U.S. federal law that manages hallmarks and unfair competitors. To name a few types 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 current courtroom headache for Perplexity, which is currently battling a lawsuit 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 issues that Perplexity carefully duplicates their material – simply last October, The New York Times sent out the startup a stop and desist letter.

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