According to Tesla China, a few days ago, the Tesla v. “Tesla Beer” trademark infringement case verdict results were announced, the court found that the Tesla series of trademarks for well-known trademarks sentenced the defendant in the drink food limited (“Tesla Beer”) immediately stop the infringement of the exclusive right of Tesla series of trademarks, stop unfair competition behavior, compensation to Tesla of 5 million yuan. (“Tesla Beer”) to immediately stop infringing on the exclusive right to use the Tesla series of trademarks, to stop the unfair competition, to pay compensation of RMB5 million to Tesla, and to publish a public statement in newspapers and magazines to eliminate the influence. Tesla Brewery appealed and the court of second instance upheld the original judgment.
It is reported that in 2019, a series of alcoholic beverages called Tesla Soda and Tesla Beer began to circulate in the market, with the trademark of the T-shaped logo, and the publicity often includes words such as “the pioneer brand of American pre-mixed drinks” and “the top international brand”, and the publicity even includes the Tesla Model X, which is the most popular brand in the world. Tesla’s Model X was even featured in the image.
Tesla filed a lawsuit against the company after discovering the infringement, and Tesla China pointed out that as a leader in the electric car industry, Tesla has a high reputation worldwide, and has quickly become known by the public after entering China. In this judgment, the Tesla series of trademarks were recognized as “well-known trademarks” by the court, therefore, the behavior of “Tesla Beer” is improperly using Tesla’s long-accumulated goodwill to compete in the market, and the publicity has repeatedly used Tesla’s cars and name to mislead consumers, which constitutes subjective malice and constitutes a violation of the law. Consumers, there is subjective malicious intent, constituting trademark infringement.
