OpenAI Wins Trademark Lawsuit Over ‘Open Artificial Intelligence’

OpenAI Wins Trademark Lawsuit Over ‘Open Artificial Intelligence’

A federal judge rules that ‘Open Artificial Intelligence’ infringed OpenAI’s trademark rights, despite the defendant owning the ‘openai.com’ domain months before OpenAI’s founding.

A federal judge in California has ruled in favor of OpenAI, finding that a Silicon Valley tech entrepreneur violated its trademark rights by using the name ‘Open Artificial Intelligence’ in commerce. US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers agreed with OpenAI’s argument that Guy Ravine’s company infringed its trademark, even though Ravine had acquired the openai.com domain in March 2015 — months before OpenAI’s official launch in December 2015.

According to OpenAI’s lawsuit, Ravine applied to register an OpenAI trademark the day after the company announced its founding, allegedly to “sow consumer confusion and imply an affiliation.” Emails filed in court showed that OpenAI’s founders tried to buy the domain from Ravine in both 2015 and 2022. In 2022, Ravine allegedly told OpenAI CEO Sam Altman he would hand over the domain if the company donated millions of dollars to an “academic collaboration.”

An OpenAI spokesperson said the ruling helps it “protect the OpenAI name and avoid confusion for its users.” Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Open Artificial Intelligence said the company disagrees with the ruling and intends to appeal.

The ruling prohibits Ravine’s company from using the ‘OpenAI’ name.