Tesla Motors aims to sell the popular electric car to the world's largest auto market but will need to fix a trademark issues first as a businessman from China claimed rights to their brand name, Reuters reports.
If not with this issue, Tesla should have been selling the premium Model S sedan worth $70,000 in Beijing. However, three sources said that the company had to postpone it because of the alleged trademark issue.
Tesla is almost complete with their registration with Chinese officials who will give them permit to sell the Model S. The company's shop located at the Parkview Green Fangcaodi mall also has the Model S billboards but doesn't have the name Tesla.
Tesla general manager of Tesla China Kingston Change refused to comment about the issue. However, spokeswoman of Tesla Japan Atsuko Doi said that they were already accepting "reservations" for China and plans to open in China this year.
Businessman Zhan Baosheng from southern China of Guangdong is the owner of the "Tesla" name which he had registered back in 2006. Reuters was able to find Jinda Trademark, the agency he used for the registration, but refused to give any details about the businessman.
Zhan also runs a car business which has almost the same logo of the American Tesla. His "Tesla" car looks different from Model S but his website says that it "dream is to build China's best electric car."
Legal experts said that Tesla may need to pay Zhan to get the "Tesla" name if they want it to be the easy way.
"In the e-vehicle market, everyone knows Tesla. But the burden is on Tesla to prove that its trademark is recognised by car customers (in general), and that it has used and promoted the trademark for sufficient time period in China in order to be eligible for well-known trademark determination," said Vincent Wang, Shanghai-based partner at law firm Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, to Reuters.
Apple had a similar case wherein the company decided to pay $60 million just to get the iPad trademark in China.
