Tesla trademark spat threatens Musk's China dream Elon Musk’s electric wagon biz Tesla may be forced to retreat from China after Chinese businessman Zhan Baosheng claimed he owns the trademark "Tesla". Guangdong-based Zhan registered 特斯拉 (Te Si La) in 2006 – well before Tesla set up shop in the Middle Kingdom. According to Reuters, Tesla thought the dispute was resolved in …
he is a troll, but i'd _possibly_ give him a small portion of benefit of doubt if all he tried was copying the name... after all, Tesla as a collection of letters isn't one of musks inventions....
but to go the whole hog and carbon copy the logo too is pushing his claims a little too far...
Elon, Please give up on factories or storefronts in China as long as this fucking troll is alive. You can definitely make the cars and batteries economically elsewhere. When the Chinese government tell you it's okay (in their rush to get your money and your IP), still say no until they publicly execute Baosheng on TV. I have seen too many companies look to move to or do business with China only to see their products copied or ideas stolen.
Instead put up a factory in India and you'll still sell cars in China via the black market (Hong Kong). Some countries need to stop trademark and IP thieves earlier but removing them from the gene pool is a good start and the only punishment that is actually preventative!
The world needs one INTERNATIONAL trademark/patent registry that has actual power over trade . Nations would submit local applications to a final agency that decided for the entire world. This could have been something the UN could have gotten behind if they weren't so corrupt, indecisive and incompetent.
"The world needs one INTERNATIONAL trademark/patent registry that has actual power over trade. Nations would submit local applications to a final agency that decided for the entire world. This could have been something the UN could have gotten behind if they weren't so corrupt, indecisive and incompetent."
I'm all for it if that means we can finally get rid of that stale cats piss that the Yanks dare to call "Budweiser" whilst ignoring the existence and rights of the much older Czech company called Budweiser Budvar (whose beers are far superior).
Alas I fear that setting up such an organisation would be almost impossible. The difficulties of resolving the enormous number of existing clashes between trade names would kill any such attempt stone dead from the outset.
I suppose people like Musk could have thought ahead and gotten the Chinese trademark when he started the company in 2003 and avoided the problem. Is the cost of a Chinese trademark so high that they couldn't afford it? Someone managed to grab it and sit on if for a long time.
But why should he need to? For a company to have a valid trademark in any country, it should be clear that one has to genuinely believe that trademark to be original. If someone else somewhere is using it first, registering a copycat trademark is an attempt at fraud, which is a criminal offence.
If someone else somewhere is using it first, registering a copycat trademark is an attempt at fraud, which is a criminal offence.
Because it really is a regional issue. You run into a serious problem if it turns out one guy living someplace like Tuvalu has been knocking out Tesla electric golf carts since the late '80s. Who should lose the brand or should they both be allowed to use it with some basic geographic restrictions? What happens when our Tuvaluan Tesla decides he has improved to the point where he can make electric cars and wants to go international? Since our scenario has the Tuvaluan with the trademark first, albeit unbeknownst to most outside of Tuvalu, is Musk's company guilty of fraud? Does that change if Musk had actually been to Tuvalu and been for a ride in one of the Tesla electric golf carts and why?
I think you've stated the exact issue, "other people could use it".
If you're marketing under that name you want customers to be secure in the knowledge that the 'Maxwell' Electric Car they've just bought is one of the quality ones that you produce, rather than a cheap copy with an identical name.
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Hurry, trademark other names to be used in China as well before this shmuck does: Elon. Musk. Pitelon. (patent troll elon). Telon. Tusk. Nesla. Musk Charger. The dictionary, hurry!
Tesla can play the same game as happened on those american states that don't allow direct Tesla sales: just put several showrooms all over China, but direct the customers to online sales via California. Carefully avoid the Tesla logo on the showrooms and only use it on the website, where the trolling doesn't work. Nikola Model S doesn't sound so bad. Musk Supercharger S works even better.
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