In the US, autonomous cabs are already an integral part of transportation, especially in cities such as San Francisco, Los Angeles and Phoenix. Waymo, an Alphabet Group company, is the leading provider in this area. Waymo currently has 1,500 robotaxis on the road and, according to the company, they make more than 250,000 journeys a week without a human at the wheel.
If Elon Musk had his way, these self-driving vehicles should not only come exclusively from Tesla, but the term „robotaxi“ should also be reserved exclusively for his company.
Well, the first attempt to protect the term under trademark law failed. In the first instance, the trademark application US 98795392 was rejected by the USPTO. The office found that the term was clearly descriptive in Class 39 for passenger transportation by autonomous vehicles. Tesla can appeal against the decision. Another decision is still pending on a second application (US 98795389) in class 12 (autonomous vehicles), but it can be expected that the Office will not see the facts differently here.
Identical applications also exist in Australia, Norway and Iceland – but not in the EU. None of these have yet been granted.
Robotaxi Ltd, which also wanted to protect the term for Class 39 (transportation), suffered the same fate back in 2019. Their trademark application US 88583610 was also finally rejected due to its descriptive nature.
Be that as it may: Musk, who always likes to see himself as a pioneer of innovation, is late to the game here: the term was already registered as Community trade mark 013 813 167 for same Robotaxi Ltd. In class 39 back in 2015.