In a complaint filed Friday in federal court in San Francisco, Autodesk said it began using the Flow name in September 2022 for products focused on visual effects, production management, and related tools. The company said it was caught off guard when Google launched software under the same name in May 2025, targeting many of the same customers.
According to the complaint, Google had previously assured Autodesk that it would not commercialize a product called Flow. Autodesk alleges that despite those assurances, Google applied that same month to trademark the term in the Kingdom of Tonga, a jurisdiction where trademark filings are not generally publicly accessible.
Autodesk claims Google then relied on the Tonga filing to pursue similar trademark protections in the United States and has actively marketed its Flow software at high-profile industry events, including the Sundance Film Festival.
“Google’s false representation that it would always use a combination of its house mark and Flow was intended to buy time to allow it to swamp Autodesk’s place in the market,” the complaint said. Autodesk argued that Google’s scale and market power could overwhelm its Flow-branded products and dilute its trademark, despite their commercial success.
The lawsuit highlights the disparity between the two companies’ size. Autodesk, based in San Francisco, had a market value of about $51 billion as of Friday, compared with roughly $3.9 trillion for Google’s parent company, Alphabet.
Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.
Autodesk is seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages, alleging consumer confusion and irreparable harm caused by Google’s actions. In a statement, the company said it remains committed to protecting its innovations and promoting fair competition.
The legal action comes shortly after Autodesk announced plans to cut about 1,000 jobs, or roughly 7% of its workforce, as it reallocates spending toward cloud-based services and artificial intelligence initiatives.