The strange story of Tesla's Cybercab trademark battle
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Tesla has faced a few branding road blocks in recent years. From being ordered to change the name of its Autopilot feature to the design debacle that is the Cybertruck, the company has found itself on the defensive a lot of late. And it's hitting back hard against a new trademark claim against the forthcoming Cybercab.
Somewhat unbelievably, when Elon Musk announced the Cybercab in 2024, Tesla hadn't actually filed for a trademark. Soon after, an opportunistic French beverage brand, UniBev, snapped up the trademark – forcing Tesla to file a vitriolic complaint.
“The United States trademark system exists to protect legitimate commercial actors and consumers, rather than to reward those who seek to exploit the registration process for improper purposes,” the complaint reads. “Allowing the Bad Faith Application to register would undermine this purpose.” Tesla claims that UniBev has clearly filed the application without intending to release any vehicles.
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But it turns out this is a stranger case that it first seems. For one thing, Tesla has had run-ins with UniBev before. According to Fast Company, the brand owns several Tesla related trademarks including French rights to the names Cyber Diner, Cybervan, and XCab, as well as U.S. rights to Teslaquila and Teslaquila Hard Seltzer.
But if it seems like the brand is trolling Tesla, it's bizarre to note that the founder of UniBev, according to Fast company, "appears to be a devoted Musk fan".
Time will tell how this one will play out – but in the meantime, it's yet another branding woe for Tesla.
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