Chicken store owner takes on Tesla in trademark battle –

Amanj Ali applied for a trademark to call his business Tesla Chicken & Pizza in 2020. Like Elon Musk’s company, Ali was inspired by scientist Nikola Tesla. A few years ago, however, Ali received an e-mail telling him that the Tesla car company was applying for a British trademark for food and drink, the same class for which Ali had applied.

Ali was confused because Tesla – founded in 2013 – could have objected to his trademark in the two months it took to solidify it. Ali decided he would go to court over the issue, which has since turned out to be a big mistake.

Tesla claimed that Ali knowingly used the Tesla trademark for his takeout, thereby using the trademark to unfairly attract customers. In a more realistic case of David vs Goliath, Goliath won and Ali was ordered to pay £4,000 to Tesla after spending £8,000 in legal fees.

Why does Tesla want to trademark food and drink in the UK? Just like that, it seems. There are no Tesla restaurants, pop-up counters or self-service facilities in the UK, but that may change in the future. We will have to wait and see.

Thanks, BBC.