A newly announced document from November of last year shows that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has suspended Tesla’s trademark application for the name “Cybercab.”
A quick but important digression before I continue: Does the public know yet that there is even a difference between the Tesla names “Robotaxi” and “Cybercab”? As a tech-savvy consumer, you, the person reading this, no doubt know that Robotaxi is the name of Tesla’s app, used to hail self-driving rides, while Cybercab—obviously—is the name of a Tesla car model that has not yet been released without a steering wheel or pedals, intended to eventually become part of the Robotaxi program. Some lower minds, however, may find this naming system messy.
Nevertheless, as if the list of names related to Tesla’s taxis was not already enough of a headache, another naming problem may soon pile up: the French company hard seltzer may have the name “Cybercab” itself, and according to Electrek, that is because Tesla behaved badly, created a pollution that could not be prevented, it seems that it is over.
As Electrek’s story notes, even Elon Musk himself used the terms “Cybercab” and “Robotaxi” interchangeably at Tesla’s 2024 Cybercab event, and the company didn’t have any trademark yet. It may not own both.
Techcrunch said in May of last year that Tesla waited until its 2024 announcement date to try to trademark “Robotaxi” and “Cybercab” (and “Robobus,” for good measure). Electrek’s story contradicts this a bit, more than that in a short time. The usual time, Techcrunch reported last year. And yes, robot is very much a household word. and the operator of the self-driving thingamajig, carries the slogan “It’s not a car. A robot built around you” right at the top of the page on Zoox.com.
So Tesla really needs to know the trademark “Cybercab,” one assumes, to at least be a trademark something in this space.
But according to Electrek, Tesla announced the Cybercab name on October 10, 2024, and filed its official trademark application sometime in November of that same year—less than three weeks later. Meanwhile on October 28 French beverage company Unibev filed for a trademark for a car called “Cybercab.”
“Trademark squatting,” I am informed, is when a business registers a trademark that is identical to an existing trademark, or registers a trademark in a country with weak trademark laws, in order to benefit from the resulting confusion. If an expert in trademark squatting examines what Unibev is doing, they may decide that it is very different: applying for an unregistered trademark that someone knows very soon, as a way to integrate someone else’s business plan, or, perhaps, extracting a payment. This is all just speculation about Unibev’s motives, but if it was Unibev’s plan, it works. The USPTO’s application suspension letter to Tesla states the following (bold text mine):
The pending application(s) below have an earlier filing date or effective filing date than the applicant’s application. If the mark in the application(s) below is registered, the USPTO may refuse registration of the applicant’s mark under Section 2(d) due to the possibility of confusion with the registered mark(s).. 15 USC §1052(d); see 37 CFR §2.83; TMEP §1208.02(e). Action on this application is suspended until the application(s) previously filed below are registered or dismissed. 37 CFR §2.83(c). Information related to the applications below has been previously posted.
According to Electrek, Tesla submitted arguments against the rejection of its application to the USPTO, and the letter says that the office “thoroughly considered the applicant’s arguments… It also cites an anonymous source who says that Tesla and Unibev are trying to expedite some kind of agreement.”
It’s a bit obsessive trying to picture Tesla not finding a way to please the French alcoholic beverage company and protect the brand (wouldn’t a sufficient number of Euros do the trick?), but if they can’t agree, where can I sign up for a Cybercab ride in France? I think this will be some sort of Cyberpunk Cabernet tour in Bordeaux, too a lot interested.
