A Autodesk filed a lawsuit against Google for infringement of the “Flow” trademark in the sale of competing software with artificial intelligence used to produce films, TV shows and video games.
The company claims in the lawsuit that it began using Flow in September 2022 for visual effects, production management and other products, and was surprised when it launched software with the same name and aimed at the same customers in May 2025.
Autodesk said Google assured it would not commercialize Flow, but that month it applied to register the trademark in the South Pacific Kingdom of Tonga, where applications are not generally available to the public.
The lawsuit claims the tech giant used Tonga’s filing to seek similar trademark protection for Flow in the U.S. and marketed it at industry events including the Sundance Film Festival.
“Google’s false statement that it would always use a combination of its own brand and Flow was intended to buy time to allow it to dominate Autodesk’s place in the market,” the complaint stated. “Despite the success of Autodesk products, Google, which is much larger, will likely dominate Flow products and brands.”
Autodesk’s market value was about US$51 billion (about R$264.8 billion) on Friday, while the market value of Alphabet, Google’s parent company, was about US$3.9 trillion (R$750.8 trillion).
Google has not commented on the matter.
Autodesk is seeking damages for the confusion caused to consumers and the alleged irreparable harm caused by the technology giant.
Last month, Autodesk announced it would cut about 1,000 jobs, or 7% of its workforce, as it shifts spending to its cloud and artificial intelligence platform.
