AI Firm Sues Rival After IP Complaint Led to App Store Removal

Hong Kong-based 2.5 HK Ltd. sued Cypriot company Florate Ltd., seeking a declaratory judgment that Florate’s “CHATBOX” trademark is invalid and that 2.5 HK’s use of “Chatbox AI” doesn’t infringe, after its app was removed from Apple Inc.‘s App Store.

The complaint, filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, alleges the term “CHATBOX” is generic and merely descriptive for chatbot software, and the US Patent and Trademark Office has determined that it can’t be registered as a trademark. Florate improperly filed a trademark infringement complaint with Apple, leading to the removal of 2.5 ...