By Blake Brittain

July 22 (Reuters) - OpenAI convinced a federal judge in California on Monday that a Silicon Valley tech entrepreneur violated its trademark rights by using the name "Open AI" in commerce.

U.S. District Judge Yvonne Rogers agreed with OpenAI that Guy Ravine's company Open Artificial Intelligence infringed OpenAI's trademarks, even though Ravine started his company months before OpenAI's founding.

An OpenAI spokesperson said that the ruling allows it to "protect the OpenAI name and avoid confusion for our users.” Attorneys for Ravine and Open Artificial Intelligence did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.

Ravine bought the now-defunct "open.ai" website in March 2015, months before OpenAI was founded. OpenAI sued Ravine and Open Artificial Intelligence in 2023, arguing that they applied to register an "Open AI" trademark the day after OpenAI announced its founding to "sow consumer confusion."

OpenAI's founders offered to buy the domain from Ravine in 2015 and 2022, according to emails disclosed in the lawsuit. Ravine told OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in 2022 that he would hand over the website if the company donated millions of dollars to an "academic collaboration," noting that Elon Musk had paid $11 million for the Tesla domain and trademark in 2017.

Rogers granted OpenAI's preliminary request last year to block Ravine from using the "Open AI" name, finding it was likely to confuse consumers. She also said that Ravine's website was "inoperative" when he applied for a trademark in 2015, and that he redesigned it shortly before OpenAI sued to look "remarkably" like OpenAI's website.

The judge ruled on Monday that Ravine and Open Artificial Intelligence violated OpenAI's trademark rights. Rogers also said that Ravine's "Open AI" trademark was invalid because he misled the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office about his use of the name in commerce.

The case is OpenAI Inc v. Open Artificial Intelligence Inc, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, No. 4:23-cv-03918.

For OpenAI: Margret Caruso, Robert Feldman, Bobby Schwartz and Sam Stake of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan

For Open Artificial Intelligence: Jason Wilson, Ashley Kirk and David Harris of Willenken LLP

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OpenAI wins order blocking tech entrepreneur's 'Open AI' website

(Reporting by Blake Brittain in Washington)