Amanj Ali, a 41-year-old man who ran a fast food delivery service known as 'Tesla Chicken & Pizza' in Greater Manchester, ended up losing £12,000 after taking over the popular electric car company Tesla.
Ali had registered this name for his company, but then… Matthew objected Tesla It attempted to register its own trademark for food and beverage services in the United Kingdom.
The reason for the dispute was that Tesla He considered that Ali's use of his name might benefit fame And the reputation of the car company.
Ali, who is also the owner of 'Colorado's Chicken' restaurant in Puri, in May 2020, decided to register the name 'Tesla Chicken & Pizza' for his takeaway business, in the food and beverage services category.
on time, He explained that he chose this name inspired by Nikola Teslathe famous Serbian-American inventor and electrical engineer, whom Ali admired from a young age for his intelligence and contributions to the world of science.
After registering his trademark without initial objections within the specified two-month period, in November 2021, Ali received a mail from the Intellectual Property Office.
The message told him that someone in the United States was trying to register Tesla in the same category as his company.
Ali soon discovered that it was the electric car company, Tesla, that… It has applied for international trademark protection in the UK For the category that includes restaurant services, self-service and takeaway.
Concerned about the implications this would have for his own company, Ali decided to oppose Tesla's registration, fearing that the car company would try to invalidate his trademark, which could affect the growth of his business.
Just as feared, in September 2022 Tesla filed a lawsuit to invalidate Ali's trademark, claiming that its own trademark, “Tesla”, registered since 2013, It had such a strong reputation that any such use would amount to taking unfair advantage of it.
The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) supported Tesla's position and, in late November of the same year, ruled that Ali must pay £4,000 to Tesla. By then, Ali had already invested around £8,000 in legal fees related to the case.
In its argument, Tesla sought to demonstrate that, in the food and beverage business, it also possesses “good faith” or an established reputation that allows it to protect an unregistered trademark.
This was based, in part, In a tweet written by Elon Musk in January 2018, in which he expressed Tesla's intention to open a restaurant under the Tesla brand.Which would prove their intentions and brand association with the food sector.
Ali said he would have appealed the decision if he had sufficient financial resources, but chose not to to avoid further expenses and because of the stress the two-year conflict had caused him, affecting his sleep and ability to work.
He described himself as a small businessman taking on a company led by the world's richest man, a position he shared with the BBC, highlighting the inequality in the race.
Furthermore, according to court documents, Tesla stated that after Ali opposed them, he offered to sell his brand for £750,000.
Ali explained that this number came as a result of a misunderstanding with his former lawyerWhich, after receiving an offer from Tesla of £750, he suggested he should consider it “if there was a K next to it”, referring to thousands. Ali explained that he never intended to sell his brand to Tesla from the beginning.
For their part, neither Elon Musk nor Tesla published any official statement regarding this situation.
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