Sam Altman fires back at ‘silly’ lawsuit from what he claims is a desperate CEO who has been persistent in seeking investment from OpenAI

AI·LawsuitSam Altman fires back at ‘silly’ lawsuit from what he claims is a desperate CEO who has been persistent in seeking investment from OpenAIBY Marco Quiroz-GutierrezBY Marco Quiroz-GutierrezReporterMarco Quiroz-GutierrezReporterRole: ReporterMarco Quiroz-Gutierrez is a reporter for Fortune covering general news

SEE FULL BIOSam Altman, CEO of OpenAINathan Howard—Bloomberg/Getty ImagesStartup Iyo filed a lawsuit against OpenAI for trademark infringement after it used the brand “io,” which Iyo claims is a homophone for its name, in a May announcement of OpenAI’s team-up with former Apple designer Jony Ive

Sam Altman this week brushed off a lawsuit going after “io,” OpenAI’s team-up with famed former Apple designer Jony Ive, but a judge’s recent decision could make the issue a bigger headache than previously imagined for the AI giant

Still, OpenAI went ahead and used the homophone name “io” in a splashy May announcement

The lawsuit claimed OpenAI refused to stop using the io name even after Iyo requested it do so, and as a result, investors got spooked the name confusion, and funding interest in the startup dried up

A judge last week granted Iyo a temporary restraining order barring OpenAI from using its io brand at least until a preliminary injunction hearing in October. ing the order, the AI company removed any mention of io from its motional materials and website

Trademark and intellectual perty attorney Josh Gerben said the temporary restraining order the judge granted to Iyo is not easily obtained, and is typically reserved for extreme circumstances where harm is ly

Rather than fight the court’s decision at the hearing in October, and then at trial, it may be easier for OpenAI to rebrand, said Gerben. “Legally, Iyo’s case appears to be strong, especially given the phonetic similarity between ‘Iyo’ and ‘io’ and the reported instances of actual confusion,” he told Fortune. “If the case were to go to trial and Iyo could vide that its fundraising efforts went completely dry, along with other evidence showing that consumers were being confused by OpenAI’s use of ‘io,’ it would ly win the case. ” Despite pulling its io branding, Altman was dismissive of the lawsuit, calling it “silly. ” The OpenAI CEO took a shot at Iyo in several posts on X, claiming its CEO, Jason Rugolo, had been “quite persistent in his efforts” to get OpenAI to either buy or invest in his company. “I wish Jason and his team the best building great ducts

The world certainly needs more of that and less lawsuits,” Altman wrote in a -up post

A spokesperson for OpenAI did not immediately respond to Fortune’s request for

Still, Iyo’s general counsel said in a statement to Fortune that Iyo felt confident ing the judge’s decision to issue the temporary restraining order last week. “We’re not surprised by Mr

Altman’s dismissive tone—but federal judges don’t issue restraining orders based on ‘silly’ claims

The court found that Iyo is ly to succeed in showing infringement, and that’s what matters

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