Tesla could be blocked from using the ‘Cybercab’ name

A recently released document in November last year shows that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) suspended Tesla’s application for a trademark on the term “Cybercab”.

Quick but important detour before we continue: Is the public aware at this point that there is even a difference between the Tesla terms “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 autonomous journeys, while Cybercab is – apparently – the name of an as-yet-unreleased Tesla car model, without a steering wheel or pedals, intended to be part of the Robotaxi program. Some lesser minds, however, might find this naming system complicated.

Regardless, as if Tesla’s glossary of taxi-related terms wasn’t already enough of a headache, another naming problem could soon pile up: A French hard seltzer company could have the name “Cybercab” all to itself, and according to Electrekthat’s because Tesla blundered, creating an avoidable mess for itself, apparently through haste and carelessness.

As the Electrek story notes, even Elon Musk himself used the terms “Cybercab” and “Robotaxi” interchangeably during Tesla’s 2024 event announcing the Cybercab, and the company did not yet own either brand. He may never possess one or the other.

Technological crisis claimed in May last year that Tesla had waited until the day of its announcement in 2024 to try to trademark “Robotaxi” and “Cybercab” (and also “Robobus”, for good measure). Electrek’s story slightly contradicts this, we’ll get to that in a moment. Tesla had its entire “Robotaxi” trademark project rejected by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office because robotaxi is a generic term, Techcrunch reported last year. And yes, robotaxi is largely an umbrella term. Zoox division of Amazonmanufacturer and operator of its own autonomous thing, carries the slogan “It’s not a car. It’s a robotaxi built around you” at the top of the Zoox.com page.

So Tesla really needs to be able to trademark the “Cybercab” trademark, one assumes, so that it can at least trademark. something in this space.

But according to Electrek, Tesla announced the Cybercab name on October 10, 2024, and submitted its official trademark application sometime in November of that year, no less than three weeks later. During this period, on October 28, French beverage manufacturer Unibev filed a trademark application for a vehicle named “Cybercab.”

“Brand squatting” I am informed, This is the case when an entity registers a mark similar to an existing mark, or registers a mark in a country with weaker trademark laws, in order to profit from the resulting confusion. If a trademark squatting expert looked at what Unibev is doing, they might determine that it’s a much cruder variation: it’s simply filing an unregistered trademark that you know will be filed soon, in order to spoil someone else’s business plan, or, perhaps, to make a profit from it. This is all speculation about Unibev’s motives, but if this was Unibev’s plan, it is working. The USPTO’s application suspension letter to Tesla says the following (bold text mine):

The pending application(s) below have a filing date or effective filing date prior to the applicant’s application.. If the mark in the application(s) below is registered, the USPTO may deny registration of the applicant’s mark under Section 2(d) due to a risk of confusion with the registered trademark(s). 15 USC §1052(d); see 37 CFR §2.83; TMEP §1208.02(e). Action on this application is stayed until the application(s) filed hereunder are docketed or discontinued. 37 CFR §2.83(c). Information relevant to the application(s) below has been sent previously.

According to Electrek, Tesla submitted arguments against the rejection of its application to the USPTO, and the letter states that the office has “carefully considered the applicant’s arguments… but does not find them persuasive.” It also cites an anonymous source claiming that Tesla and Unibev are trying to make some sort of deal.

It strains credulity a bit to try to imagine Tesla not finding a way to please this French liquor company and get that brand (won’t a sufficiently large stack of euros do the trick?), but if they just can’t agree, where can I sign up for a Cybercab ride in France? I guess this will be some sort of Cyberpunk Cabernet tour in Bordeaux, and I’m very interested.