A federal judge in Northern California has issued a preliminary injunction that bars OpenAI and designer Jony Ive’s joint venture from using the io branding. The ruling follows a lawsuit filed by startup iyO, which claimed the new “io” name infringes its trademark. IyO previously secured a temporary restraining order that forced OpenAI to scrub references to the project from its sites.

IyO argues the two marks are visually and phonetically similar enough to confuse consumers, especially if OpenAI releases products like connected headphones under the same banner. The plaintiff submitted a consumer‑survey report showing potential brand overlap, and later amended its complaint to allege trade‑secret theft. OpenAI countered that its first offering would not be an AI‑powered wearable and had already abandoned the io name.

Judge Trina Thompson found iyO “likely to succeed on the merits” and warned that even a voluntary drop of the mark might not prevent future use, granting the injunction to protect iyO’s brand equity and funding prospects. With discovery now underway and a May 2026 deadline for further disputes, the case underscores how aggressively tech firms defend naming rights in an increasingly crowded AI market.