Tesla Tried To Trademark 'Robotaxi' And 'Cybercab' Terms: Why It Could Be Forced To Pick A New Name
Electric vehicle Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) giant has filed trademarks for "Robotaxi" and "Cybercab," two terms the company has used to describe its new autonomous vehicles.
The bad news for Tesla is the United States Patent and Trademark Office said no to their trademark request.
What Happened: With a plan to launch robotaxis in June, Tesla could need to come up with a new name for its vehicles on the road or be forced to use the term robotaxis as a generic term and not a company-specific name.
According to TechCrunch, the USPTO told Tesla that its trademark claim for "Robotaxi" was too generic to describe its vehicles. A separate trademark filing to use "Robotaxi" for ride-hailing services is still under review.
A USPTO examiner said a trademark for "Robotaxi" is "merely descriptive" and that the term is "used to describe similar goods and services by other companies."
"Such wording appears to be generic in the context of applicant's goods and/or services," the examiner said.
Tesla's trademark for "Cybercab" was halted with multiple companies filing similar trademarks with the word "Cyber" in them, including one company that applied for trademarks related to accessories for Tesla's Cybertruck vehicle.
As Benzinga previously reported, Tesla has also filed trademarks for Robobus and Robus, which could be related to its 20-seat passenger vehicle shown off with its autonomous vehicles at its October 2024 Robotaxi Day event.
According to the report, those trademarks are still under review.
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Why It's Important: Tesla has three months to file a response to the trademark rejection or the application will be abandoned, according to the report.
If Tesla cannot secure the trademark for Robotaxi or Cybercab, the company could go back to the drawing board to decide on a name to call these vehicles before they are scheduled to hit the road next month.
Securing trademarks for Robobus and Robus would likely be used by the larger vehicles and not the autonomous cars Tesla will soon have on the roads.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has used Robotaxi and Cybercab to refer to the vehicles that many analysts see as a huge part of the electric vehicle company's future growth.
The October 2024 event used both terms to refer to the vehicle, while the company's website has often used Robotaxi to refer to the new vehicle.
Musk loved the Cybertruck name. Cybercab would likely follow that naming pattern after years of Tesla vehicles having “Model” in their names like the X, Y and S.
TSLA Price Action: Tesla stock trades at $287.81 versus a 52-week trading range of $157.40 to $488.54. It is down 24.2% year-to-date in 2025.
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