The U.S. The US Patent and Trademark Office has rejected Tesla’s bid to trademark the term “Robotaxi”. Which it has utilized to confer with its long-promised autonomous vehicles.
CEO Elon Musk has long employed the term “robotaxi” to describe his vision for a future where autonomous vehicles provide personalized transportation services.
Initially, Tesla’s attention focused on transforming its existing customer vehicles (Model S, X, 3, Y and Cybertruck) into autonomous modes once it finally delivers on its “full self-driving” promises – something that was supposed to happen by the end of each year for the past six years.
Notwithstanding, Tesla hosted its “We, Robotic” event in October 2024, where it debuted two novel vehicles: a dedicated robotaxi car and a self-driving “Robovan,” as depicted above.
Elon Musk dubbed the dedicated robotaxi vehicle a “Robotaxi” and “Cybercab”.
Following the event, we revealed that Tesla registered trademarks for several phrases, including ‘Robobus’ and ‘Robovan’.
TechCrunch reports that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USTPO) has rejected Tesla’s application to trademark the term “Utility” due to its perceived lack of distinctiveness.
The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has rejected Tesla’s attempt to trademark the term “Robotaxi,” a name it sought to use for its autonomous driving technology, citing that the term is too generic and doesn’t meet the standard of being distinctive enough for trademark protection. Renewal and Protection Centre for Innovative Brands The US Patent and Trademark Office is still reviewing a utility filed by Tesla to trademark the term “Robotaxi” for its forthcoming autonomous ride-hailing service.
The USPTO observes that various entities and media outlets have employed the term “robotaxi” to describe distinct categories of autonomous vehicles, potentially leading to confusion regarding their specific characteristics and capabilities.
The choice is “non-final”. While Tesla may still influence the decision.
Tesla’s application to trademark ‘Cybercab’ has been put on hold by the USPTO, citing concerns over the use of the term ‘cyber’ in various ways.
Electrek’s Take
There should be no assumption that Tesla deserves a trademark for Robotaxi. It’s certainly too generic. While ‘Cybercab’ has potential, its impact could be amplified by providing more context and clarifying the benefits of an effectively functioning Cybercab system. If Tesla were in a position to offer the Cybertruck, it would likely be able to provide a ‘Cybercab’ service.
Let’s hope the Cybercab fares better for Tesla than the Cybertruck has thus far.
Despite its feasibility, creating a car without a steering wheel is still challenging unless the issue of autonomous driving has been fully resolved.
