Perplexity, the venture-backed startup building AI-powered search products, has been sued in federal court for allegedly violating 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 accuse Perplexity of infringing on its trademark rights by using 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 complaint.
Perplexity Solved Solutions primarily sells HR and workplace collaboration software, including a unified dashboard for HR analytics and a videoconferencing tool called Perplexity Meet. The company secured a trademark registration by November 2022 and started promoting products on its site, perplexityonline.com, a domain that Perplexity Solved Solutions had registered in 2021.
Perplexity and counsel for Perplexity Solved Solutions did not respond as of press time. TechCrunch will update the article if either party comments.
The Texas company alleges that AI startup Perplexity began infringing on its trademark “in or around” August 2022 to promote its AI-powered search engine. The month prior — July 2022 — Perplexity had registered the domain perplexity.ai, which the complaint also alleges is infringement.
“The [Perplexity] website currently located at the infringing domain name prominently features the Perplexity [trademark],” the complaint reads, “[and] the infringing goods and services are highly similar to those offered by Perplexity [Solved Solutions] and appeal to a similar customer base. For example, Perplexity [Solved Solutions’] ‘Perplexity Meet’ and defendant’s ‘Perplexity Spaces’ both are software platforms that facilitate communication and collaboration among colleagues in businesses and other organizations.”
Perplexity Spaces, which the San Francisco-based AI startup launched for enterprise customers in October, are hubs with a customizable AI assistant and connectors to third-party platforms, apps, and file systems.
The complaint alleges that Perplexity has “saturated the market” with its infringing branding, including marketing across its various social media accounts. The AI startup declined to purchase the Perplexity trademark in September 2023 when offered, per the complaint, and instead opted to file for its own trademark with the USPTO, which is still pending.
According to the complaint, Perplexity didn’t comply with 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 say that Perplexity’s use of its trademark is likely to sow confusion.
“In fact, upon information and belief, consumers already have been confused,” the complaint reads. “For example, on numerous occasions, social media users have ‘tagged’ Perplexity in their posts about defendant’s infringing goods and services.”
The complaint alleges that Perplexity’s conduct violates laws, including the Lanham Act — the U.S. federal law that regulates trademarks and unfair competition. Among other forms of legal relief, Perplexity Solved Solutions is seeking to bar Perplexity from using its trademark, as well as the trademark “Perplexity AI,” pay damages, and transfer ownership of any domains that include Perplexity branding.
It’s the latest 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 describe as a “content kleptocracy.” Many other news sites have expressed concerns that Perplexity closely replicates their content — just last October, The New York Times sent the startup a cease and desist letter.