According to a filing discovered by TechCrunch, the US Patent and Trademark Office rejected one of its first attempts to trademark the term “Robotaxi” and the term “Robotaxi.” Tesla wanted to trademark the term in relation to planned self-driving vehicle services, but now we need to reply with more evidence to change the minds of our office.
The main issue outlined in the USPTO decision is that “Robotaxi” is, as is already a commonly used term, “merely a description.” Robotaxi usually refers to self-driving cars used in services such as Waymo. The term is used so far as we believe Silicon Valley can sell self-driving cars (and vehicles that you can incorporate them). This means that Tesla cannot trademark “Robotaxi” because “the term is used to describe similar products and services by other companies.” Similarly, Zoox, an Amazon subsidiary mentioned in the filing, has already referred to its product as “Robotaxi.”
The applications rejected by the USPTO were for “land vehicles, electric vehicles, i.e. automobiles, cars, and structural parts for that.” As TechCrunch points out, Tesla has other names of trademark applications, such as “Robobus,” which could potentially give you a different response. The company also appears to be facing difficulties in locking down the trademark “Cybercab,” the name of an autonomous vehicle designed to be used in Tesla’s Robotaxi service.
The company officially introduced a loose overview of Cybercab and Robotaxi services at an event called “We, Robot” in October 2024. Cybercabs do not have steering wheels or pedals, and are expected to rely on inductive charging of power between vehicles. The event also featured the introduction of a robot bus and another appearance from Tesla’s Optimus robots.
Tesla will have to provide fact sheets, instruction manuals, brochures, ads, ads, and (that) websites to insist on how to use the “Robotaxi” trademark if the USPTO changes its control. However, given the difficulty of quitting autonomous car services, the inability to have a trademark name appears to be the least of Tesla’s challenges.
