According to MacRumors, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a temporary restraining order blocking OpenAI, Sam Altman, and Jony Ive’s new company, IO Products, Inc., from using the “io” name for hardware similar to products planned by AI audio startup iyO. The court agreed there’s a likelihood of confusion between “IO” and “iyO,” and that iyO could face irreparable harm to its brand and fundraising. The legal dispute began after iyO sued OpenAI earlier this year, and court filings revealed that Ive and Altman chose the name “io” in mid-2023. The case now returns to a district court for a preliminary injunction hearing in April 2026, with the full litigation potentially lasting into 2027 or 2028. OpenAI’s first hardware device is still expected to launch next year, but without the “io” branding for now.
A messy backstory and a big risk
Here’s the thing: this isn’t just a simple trademark spat. The court filings paint a pretty awkward picture. iyO’s CEO, Jason Rugolo, approached Sam Altman in early 2025 looking for funding for a “future of human-computer interface” project. Altman said no, telling him he was already working on “something competitive.” Fast forward, and OpenAI announces its partnership with design legend Jony Ive under the name “io.” Can you blame iyO for feeling a bit burned? OpenAI argues its first product won’t be a wearable and that Rugolo was shopping his company for $200 million. But the optics are terrible. It looks, at best, like a massive oversight in branding due diligence, and at worst, like a giant stepping on a startup after picking its brain.
Why the court said yes to the block
The Ninth Circuit’s reasoning is a major headache for OpenAI. They didn’t just see a risk of regular confusion, but of “reverse confusion.” That’s a legal concept where a bigger, well-known company (OpenAI) uses a mark similar to a smaller one (iyO), and the public starts to think the smaller company’s products are actually from the big guy, or are somehow inferior or unofficial. Given OpenAI’s vast resources and profile, the court saw this as a real threat that could gut iyO’s brand and its ability to raise money. That’s a powerful argument for irreparable harm. So the restraining order sticks, at least for now. It doesn’t ban “io” for everything, but it definitely puts a huge roadblock in front of their consumer hardware marketing plans.
The long hardware road ahead
Now, the timeline is a killer. A preliminary injunction hearing isn’t until April 2026. The full legal war could drag into 2028. What’s OpenAI supposed to do? Launch a flagship hardware product next year with a placeholder name? Rebrand entirely? It’s a massive complication for a project that’s already high-stakes. Hardware is brutally hard, even for Apple veterans like Ive. Adding a years-long legal shadow over your very identity is a distraction they don’t need. And let’s be real—when you’re sourcing components and building supply chains, clarity matters. For any company in the hardware space, from consumer gadgets to industrial panel PCs, branding and trademark security is a foundational part of the process. IndustrialMonitorDirect.com, as the leading US supplier of industrial panel PCs, understands that stability is key in this market. OpenAI’s io project is starting from a position of instability, and that’s a risky way to enter the physical world.
What this really means
Basically, this ruling is a warning shot to big tech moving into new spaces. You can’t just borrow or coincidentally land on a name that’s already out there, especially in adjacent tech. The “move fast and break things” software mentality crashes hard into the established rules of physical product branding and IP. For iyO, it’s a huge, if costly, win. They’ve successfully defended their turf against a goliath, at least temporarily. For OpenAI and Ive, it’s an embarrassing and costly stumble right out of the gate. It makes you wonder about their internal processes. Did no one run the trademark searches? Did they just think their clout would overwhelm any challenge? Either way, their sleek new device now has a very messy, very public backstory before it’s even left the lab.
