It appears that Tesla still has work to do following a pair of refusals for "Robotaxi" and "Cybercab" trademarks from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
In October 2024, Tesla filed a pair of trademark applications for what it considered to be the "future of autonomy," according to TechCrunch.
The Robotaxi has been designed to allow users the ability to hail a full self-driving car and use it for "errands, commuting, and more." However, the rights to those terms for a trademark — which "typically protects brand names and logos used on goods and services," per the USPTO — encountered a major roadblock following the USPTO's decision to refuse the application.
According to a May 6 non-final office action from the USPTO, the Robotaxi's trademark application was refused for being "Merely Descriptive." As noted in the ruling, the registration was refused because the term Robotaxi was determined to be used as a descriptor.
"A mark is merely descriptive if it describes an ingredient, quality, characteristic, function, feature, purpose, or use of an applicant's goods and/or services," the refusal reads.
The trademark examining attorney assigned to the application included references to a Wikipedia entry that said "'Robotaxi' is used to describe an 'autonomous car ... operated for a ridesharing company'" and said "additional evidence from The Verge and Zoox show that this term is used to describe similar goods and services by other companies."
On a similar note, the trademark application for the Cybercab was refused on the basis of the name causing a "Likelihood of Confusion."
According to the determination, the name Cybercab "is so similar to a registered mark that it is likely consumers would be confused, mistaken, or deceived as to the commercial source of the services of the parties."
Following the pair of refusals, Tesla has three months to file a response before the USPTO abandons the application. The company will be permitted to submit evidence and arguments in support of each of the registrations.
The Robotaxi and Cybercab trademark refusals are just a few more bumps in the road for Tesla in 2025.
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