Tesla has encountered legal headwinds in its push to trademark the terms “Robotaxi” and “Cybercab”, dealing a blow to the company’s highly anticipated autonomous ride-hailing plans ahead of a planned June 2025 launch.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) this week issued a “nonfinal office action” denying Tesla’s attempt to trademark “Robotaxi” for its electric vehicles, stating the term is “merely descriptive” and too generic to qualify for exclusive use.
The decision means that Tesla now has three months to provide evidence or argumentation to convince the USPTO of the term’s distinctiveness. If it fails to respond, the trademark application will be abandoned.
Tesla filed multiple trademark applications for “Robotaxi,” “Cybercab,” and “Robobus” in October 2024, coinciding with the public reveal of the Cybercab — a purpose-built electric vehicle intended for use in Tesla’s upcoming autonomous ride-hailing service. While the “Robobus” applications remain under review, both the “Robotaxi” and “Cybercab” marks have encountered early resistance.
The USPTO examiner handling the “Robotaxi” case noted that while no conflicting trademarks currently exist, the word is commonly used in the industry to describe self-driving taxi services, making it generic in context.
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