A federal judge has temporarily blocked OpenAI from using several names, including “Cameos” and “CameoVideo,” for elements of its products and marketing for its AI video creation Sora.
U.S. District Judge Yumi K. Lee on Friday issued a temporary restraining order blocking the San Francisco-based artificial intelligence giant from using names that are part of an ongoing trademark dispute.
A Northern California judge also set a hearing for Dec. 19 to further examine the case.
The lawsuit was filed late last month. from Chicago tech company Baron App, which also shares the name of its product Cameo. The eight-year-old firm has sued OpenAI, accusing it of trademark infringement and unfair competition.
In its Oct. 28 filing, Baron said it has secured multiple U.S. trademark registrations for its Cameo product, allowing fans attract celebrities Create personalized videos to wish your friends a happy birthday or other greetings.
Snoop Dogg, Tony Hawk, Jon Bon Jovi and Donald Trump Jr. are among the celebrities who took part, interacting with fans through Cameo, the company said in its complaint to Open AI. Cameo said her posts have been popular, with more than 100 million views in the past year.
The legal dispute began after OpenAI announced an update to its text-to-video tool Sora in September. The update included the launch of a new Sora feature called Cameos.
OpenAI's fall product update gave Sora app users the ability to scan their faces and allow others to manipulate images of their faces in AI-generated environments. YouTube influencer and boxer Jake Paulwho is an investor in OpenAI, participated in the deployment of OpenAI Cameos. In less than five days, the Sora app has become popular over 1 million downloads.
“OpenAI now uses Cameo’s own brand name, CAMEO, to compete directly with Cameo,” Baron wrote in his lawsuit against OpenAI.
Lawyers for both companies argued their cases at Tuesday's hearing.
Lee's decision prohibits OpenAI and its “obligors, directors and employees from using the mark 'Cameo' or any other mark that includes or is confusingly similar to 'Cameo,'” according to her order. “Defendants are ordered to show cause why the preliminary injunction should not be [be] problem[d]”
The temporary restraining order expires on December 22.
“Although the court's order is temporary, we hope that OpenAI will agree to cease using our mark permanently to avoid further harm to the public or Cameo,” Cameo CEO Stephen Galanis said in a statement Saturday. “We'd like to put all of this behind us so we can focus all our attention on bringing talent and fans together for the holidays.”
An OpenAI spokesperson responded in a statement: “We disagree with the complaint's assertion that anyone can claim exclusive ownership of the word 'cameo,' and we look forward to continuing our case in court.”
The move comes after OpenAI ran into trouble backlash in Hollywood as images of celebrities and deceased newsmakers were manipulated without their consent.
