OpenAI successfully sought this injunction by demonstrating a likelihood of success in its trademark infringement claim, highlighting that it had acquired distinctiveness in its mark.

The Ninth Circuit confirmed the district court's findings that OpenAI's mark was well-known, attributing over 100 million monthly active users to its website and noting that OpenAI's products had made the mark a household name.

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed a preliminary injunction in a trademark case brought by OpenAI against Open Artificial Intelligence, Inc.

The court determined that OpenAI likely acquired secondary meaning in its trademark 'OPENAI' due to extensive use in association with its products and services, particularly ChatGPT.

OpenAI first attempted to register the trademark in 2016 but faced initial rejection from the US Patent & Trademark Office (PTO) due to descriptiveness and potential confusion with Guy Ravine's 'OPEN AI' mark, which Ravine claimed to have used since 2015.

Despite Ravine's claims, the PTO rejected his application for registration on the Principal Register, allowing it only on the Supplemental Register in 2017.

The district court found that Ravine failed to prove prior use of the mark in commerce and raised doubts about his claims regarding an AI product he released in November 2022, suggesting it may not have existed.

Judge Collins argued that the district court's conclusion about OpenAI's secondary meaning lacked clear support in its original order and highlighted a potential misunderstanding of the PTO's earlier ruling on OpenAI's trademark.

The Ninth Circuit majority agreed with the district court's assessment and found no abuse of discretion regarding the injunction, while dissenting Judge Collins criticized the majority for not properly applying the legal standard.