On Thursday, French-American AI startup Kili Technology Inc., creators of davinci, a generative AI-powered copilot for drafting patents and office action answers, was sued for trademark infringement and unfair competition via the use of a trademark in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas by Swiss patent and trademark law firm Da Vinci Partners LLC and its founder, John Brent Moetteli. The claims were brought under the Lanham Act and Texas common law.
According to the complaint, the plaintiffs have held U.S. federal trademark registrations for DA VINCI and DA VINCI DESIGNS since 2010 and 1996, respectively, and have operated their business for the purpose of “providing information to others about patents, the patent process, inventing, and innovative design and engineering.”
