At a time when Anthropic's Claude AI has ushered in the 'SaaSpocalypse', putting immense pressure on legacy IT services firms, the company is facing an unlikely competition from an Indian namesake.
Indeed, as Anthropic looks to expand into India, the company has received a complaint from a local software firm called Anthropic Software, which alleges that the former's entry into India has caused significant customer confusion, reports TechCrunch.
"I am exercising my legal right as it's causing huge confusion to my customers," Mohammad Ayyaz Mulla, founder and director of Anthropic Software, told TechCrunch. Mulla stated the firm is not seeking a confrontation but rather clarity and recognition of its prior use of the trademark in the country.
This comes in the midst of San Francisco-based Anthropic's aggressive expansion in South Asia. In October 2024, the company announced the opening of an India office and has recently appointed former Microsoft India Managing Director Irina Ghose to lead its domestic operations.
Anthropic, meanwhile, has also caused disruption in the global tech space through the launch of several plug-ins for Claude AI, leading to major drawdowns for global IT players, with even Indian IT companies such as Infosys, Wipro and TCS facing the brunt.
Anthropic Software is seeking recognition of its prior use and relief to prevent further brand confusion, along with 10 million rupees (approximately $110,000) in damages. While a court order dated Jan. 20 confirmed that summons have been issued to the AI firm, the court declined to grant an interim injunction against the U.S. entity.
The matter is scheduled to return to court on Feb. 16.
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