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AI Startup Perplexity Demanded Alleged Trademark Infringement

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

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

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

Perplexity Solved Solutions primarily offers HR and office collaboration software application, consisting of an unified control panel for HR analytics and a tool called Perplexity Meet. The business secured a trademark registration by November 2022 and started promoting items on its site, 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 party remarks.

The Texas company alleges that AI startup Perplexity started infringing on its hallmark “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 complaint also declares is infringement.

“The [Perplexity] website presently located at the infringing domain name plainly features the Perplexity [trademark],” the grievance reads,” [and] the infringing items 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 facilitate communication and partnership among coworkers in services and other companies.”

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

The problem alleges that Perplexity has actually “saturated the market” with its infringing branding, including marketing throughout its different social media accounts. The AI start-up decreased to purchase the Perplexity trademark in September 2023 when provided, per the problem, and instead chose to apply for its own trademark with the USPTO, which is still pending.

According to the grievance, Perplexity didn’t comply with a cease 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 say that Perplexity’s use of its trademark is most likely to plant confusion.

“In truth, upon info and belief, consumers already have been confused,” the complaint reads. “For instance, on numerous events, social media users have actually ‘tagged’ Perplexity in their posts about accused’s infringing goods and services.”

The problem declares that Perplexity’s conduct breaks laws, consisting of the Lanham Act – the U.S. federal law that controls trademarks and unreasonable competitors. Among other forms of legal relief, Perplexity Solved Solutions is looking for to bar Perplexity from utilizing its trademark, along with the trademark “Perplexity AI,” pay damages, and transfer ownership of any domains that consist of Perplexity branding.

It’s the most recent courtroom headache for Perplexity, which is currently fighting a lawsuit submitted by News Corp’s Dow Jones and the NY Post over what the plaintiffs describe as a “content kleptocracy.” Many other news websites have expressed concerns that Perplexity closely replicates their content – just last October, The New york city Times sent out the start-up a cease and desist letter.

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