Perplexity, the venture-backed start-up building AI-powered search items, has actually been taken legal action against in federal court for allegedly breaching another business's trademark.


In a problem 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 using the brand "Perplexity."


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


Perplexity Solved Solutions mainly sells HR and work environment cooperation software, including an unified dashboard for HR analytics and a videoconferencing tool called Perplexity Meet. The company protected a hallmark registration by November 2022 and began promoting products on its website, perplexityonline.com, a domain that Perplexity Solved Solutions had registered in 2021.


Perplexity and counsel for Perplexity Solved Solutions did not react as of press time. TechCrunch will update the short article if either party comments.


The Texas company alleges that AI startup Perplexity started infringing on its trademark "in or around" August 2022 to promote its AI-powered online search engine. The month prior - July 2022 - Perplexity had registered the domain perplexity.ai, which the complaint also declares is infringement.


"The [Perplexity] website presently situated at the infringing domain prominently features the Perplexity [trademark]," the grievance checks out," [and] the infringing goods and services are highly comparable to those offered by Perplexity [Solved Solutions] and interest a comparable consumer base. For instance, Perplexity [Solved Solutions'] 'Perplexity Meet' and defendant's 'Perplexity Spaces' both are software platforms that facilitate communication and partnership amongst colleagues in businesses and other companies."


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


The complaint declares that Perplexity has "filled the market" with its infringing branding, including marketing throughout its numerous social networks accounts. The AI start-up decreased to buy the Perplexity hallmark in September 2023 when used, per the grievance, and rather opted to declare its own trademark with the USPTO, which is still pending.


According to the complaint, Perplexity didn't abide by a cease and desist letter from Perplexity Solved Solutions' counsel, and it hasn't withdrawn its pending trademark 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 use of its trademark is likely to plant confusion.


"In reality, upon information and belief, consumers currently have actually been puzzled," the problem checks out. "For instance, on many occasions, social networks users have 'tagged' Perplexity in their posts about defendant's infringing goods and services."


The grievance declares that Perplexity's conduct violates laws, consisting of the Lanham Act - the U.S. federal law that regulates trademarks and unjust competition. Among other types 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 consist of Perplexity branding.


It's the latest courtroom headache for Perplexity, which is presently fighting a claim submitted by News Corp's Dow Jones and the NY Post over what the complainants describe as a "content kleptocracy." Many other news websites have actually revealed issues that Perplexity closely reproduces their material - just last October, The New York Times sent the startup a cease and desist letter.


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