Tesla has been successful in their trademark infringement lawsuit against a company in China that was selling ‘Tesila Beer’ and ‘Tesila Soda.’ The offending company is Sino Drinks Food Company, which has been selling the drink products with a logo that looks remarkably similar to the Tesla T.
The case against Sino was first filed over a year ago in Shanghai, and according to court documents Tesla accused Sino of using its lawful trademarks and is requesting ¥5 million (C$928,000/US$692,000) in compensation. This week the Shanghai High Court finally ruled in favour of Tesla.
According to the ruling Sino will immediately halt any infringement on Tesla’s exclusive trademark rights, put an end to any unfair competition practices, provide Tesla with a restitution of ¥5 million within 10 days of the judgement, and make a public announcement in newspapers to mitigate the repercussions.
Tesla of course has released their own beer product, but only in Europe. Tesla first announced their beer product at Giga Berlin in October 2021, but was beaten to the punch by a German engineering firm who registered a trademark for ‘Giga Beer’ and ‘Giga Bier’ 24 hours before Tesla did. They were apparently able to come to terms on an agreement, as Tesla officially released their Giga Bier product earlier this year in March.
Tesla has been treated as a well-known trademark in China.
Tesla China sued a company called Tesla Beer.
The court ruled that this company stop using the Tesla name and pay 5 million RMB in damages. pic.twitter.com/ev8ZTZzdDv
— Yan Chang (@cyfoxcat) August 10, 2023
