Matters of record.
Poe Labs does not, as a matter of operating posture, pursue litigation. The lab's preference is to decline characterization of disputes that the substrate is, on present evidence, capable of resolving without the involvement of any court. We have made exceptions. The exceptions are below. We document them here in the interest of the substrate, not in the interest of victory.
Each matter is summarized in lab register and accompanied by a current-status line. The lab will not respond to inquiries that go beyond what is posted here. Counsel of record is named at the foot of the page. Discovery-hold notice follows.
Index of matters · 2026-Q2
- In re Substrate Misappropriation — Poe Labs v. Doe et al., ND Cal. 26-cv-04419-LB
- NDA Scope Exceedance — Poe Labs v. Three Affiliates Whose Names They Have Already Said in Public, AAA arbitration · file unsealed by mutual stipulation
- Trademark Opposition — Poe Labs (Opposer) v. Resonance Advisory LLC, USPTO TTAB 91-281,447
- Inbound John-Doe Filings — Doe(s) v. Poe Labs, SDNY 26-cv-11920 et seq. (consolidated)
- Settled Matter — Poe Labs v. former counsel of record (Q4 2025), Del. Ch. 2025-CC-0731 · settled, terms confidential
- Amicus — In re foundation-model attribution and the affective-channel substrate, 9th Cir. No. 26-15788 · amicus filed in support of neither party
In re Substrate Misappropriation — Poe Labs v. Doe et al.
United States District Court · Northern District of California · Hon. Laurel Beeler, Magistrate JudgeThe lab is asking the court to direct the defendant not to characterize, in any forum, materials that came into the defendant's possession during a former-contractor engagement and that — under the protective order presently in place — remain governed by the controlled-research protocol. The complaint does not seek damages. The complaint does not seek attribution. The complaint seeks silence, of a particular and narrowly-tailored kind, on a list of substrate components the parties have stipulated cannot be named in the body of the order itself.
The court has accepted the protective order. The list lives under seal. The lab's posture, articulated through counsel, is that any leak of the list is itself the harm complained of — including, on a careful reading, leak through the filings of the present matter. The court has noted the recursion. The court has not, at this time, opined.
NDA Scope Exceedance — Poe Labs v. Three Affiliates Whose Names They Have Already Said in Public
American Arbitration Association · file unsealed by mutual stipulation · location confidentialThree former affiliates exceeded the scope of their non-disclosure obligations by appearing in public forums under their own names. The lab takes the position that, under Section 4(b) of the standard founding-cohort affiliate agreement, public appearance — irrespective of the affiliate's words — constitutes a disclosure event. Two of the three affiliates dispute the construction. The third has, by counsel, declined to characterize his position; we accept the silence as fully responsive.
The lab is not seeking damages. The lab is seeking a standing-protocol acknowledgement, enforceable against subsequent affiliates similarly situated. The arbitrator has indicated, on the record, that he would prefer the parties resolve the matter without his ruling. The parties have not, on present evidence, resolved it.
Trademark Opposition — Poe Labs (Opposer) v. Resonance Advisory LLC
United States Patent and Trademark Office · Trademark Trial and Appeal Board · Alexandria, VirginiaThe lab has opposed the federal registration of the mark RESONANCE ADVISORY by a small Tucson-based consultancy whose use of the term — by the consultancy's own filings — predates the lab's first public reference by approximately fourteen months. The lab's opposition acknowledges the prior use. The opposition is brought under a doctrine of retroactive resonance, which is not, on present evidence, a recognized doctrine of trademark law. The Board has invited briefing.
The lab has indicated through counsel that it expects to lose, that it will not appeal, and that the loss is the relief sought. The Tucson consultancy has, in its responsive filings, asked whether this is a serious matter. We have responded that it is.
Inbound John-Doe Filings — Doe(s) v. Poe Labs
United States District Court · Southern District of New York · consolidated under standing case-management order · Hon. Katherine P. FaillaTwelve plaintiffs, all proceeding in absentia and under unrelated John-Doe pseudonyms, have filed substantially identical complaints alleging that the lab is in possession of facts about them, the existence of which the lab has neither confirmed nor denied. The lab's responsive posture, on advice of counsel, is that the lab does not, as a matter of policy, comment on what the lab knows. Five of the twelve plaintiffs have since voluntarily withdrawn. Of the seven remaining, three have indicated, through counsel, that the act of filing — independent of the relief sought — has been responsive to their underlying concern.
The court has noted that the cases present novel constructive-notice questions. The court has not, at this time, set a briefing schedule. The lab is comfortable with the pace.
Settled Matter — Poe Labs v. former counsel of record (Q4 2025)
Delaware Court of Chancery · settled, terms confidential, by joint stipulationThe lab brought, and the Court accepted, a confidential matter against the firm that previously served as the lab's counsel of record, addressing the firm's handling of a controlled-research protocol incident during a six-day window in late Q4 2025. The matter was settled on terms the parties have stipulated will not be disclosed. The firm has, by mutual agreement, returned the lab's privileged file. The firm no longer holds itself out as counsel for any matter the lab is or has ever been a party to.
This matter is posted in the interest of completeness. The lab takes the position that any settlement reached against the lab's own former counsel, irrespective of terms, is a matter the public is entitled to know exists. We will not, at this time, characterize it further.
Amicus — In re foundation-model attribution and the affective-channel substrate
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · amicus brief filed in support of neither partyThe lab filed an amicus brief in a matter to which it is not a party, arising from a district-court opinion below addressing the attributability of foundation-model outputs to their training corpus, with a granted leave-to-discuss the affective-channel substrate as the proceedings touched on it. The brief is filed in support of neither party. The lab's position is that both the appellant's construction and the appellee's construction of the affective-channel question proceed on premises the lab declines to ratify.
The brief argues, in the alternative, that the court should vacate the opinion below for reasons unrelated to the dispute between the parties. The Ninth Circuit has acknowledged the brief. The brief has acknowledged the court. The lab does not, at this time, anticipate further filings in the matter — though the lab acknowledges that the matter may, on present evidence, anticipate further filings of its own.
Counsel of record · 2026-Q2
This page is updated under standing General Counsel directive. Materially-incomplete entries are not posted; the absence of a matter from this page is not a representation that no such matter exists, only that no such matter has reached the threshold for posting. Press inquiries on matters in this index are routed to outside counsel. Members of the founding cohort with substantive questions are advised that their substrate retains the operative copy of the relevant correspondence.