Elon Musk-owned Tesla Inc. approached the Delhi High Court in May 2024, claiming that Tesla Power India was using the ‘TESLA’ trademark and had announced its entry into the electric vehicle (EV) market.
NEW DELHI: Today, 26th March, The Delhi High Court decided to continue hearing the trademark case filed by Elon Musk’s company, Tesla Inc., against the Indian firm Tesla Power India Private Limited. This decision came after the Court noted that mediation efforts between the two companies did not succeed.
Justice Saurabh Banerjee, a single-judge of the Delhi High Court, said that he will hear Tesla Inc.’s plea on April 15.
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Background
Elon Musk-owned Tesla Inc. approached the Delhi High Court in May 2024, claiming that Tesla Power India was using the ‘TESLA‘ trademark and had announced its entry into the electric vehicle (EV) market. Tesla Inc. opposed this move and alleged trademark infringement.
The Court was informed that Tesla Power India had published newspaper advertisements about its decision to enter the EV market. Tesla Inc. stated that it had issued a cease-and-desist notice to Tesla Power India and its counterpart, Tesla Power USA, in April 2022. Communications between the two companies continued until March 2023. However, Tesla Power India allegedly continued to advertise and market products using the ‘TESLA’ trademark.
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During the initial hearing, the proprietor of Tesla Power India appeared before the Court and provided an undertaking. The company assured the Court that they had no intention of manufacturing electric vehicles and would not market any other company’s electric vehicles under the ‘TESLA POWER USA’ name or any other brand that is deceptively similar to ‘TESLA.’
However, in later hearings, Tesla Inc. claimed that Tesla Power India had started manufacturing electric scooters using the Tesla brand name. On May 28, 2024, the Court observed:
“In this situation, it would be appropriate if the defendants file an affidavit disclosing the EVs that are sold by them, as well as, the names of the dealers through which these are sold, the dates of launch, sales since launch, and the current stocks that are available with them. Affidavit will be placed on record or before the next date of hearing.”
Following this, the Court referred the case for mediation to resolve the dispute amicably.
The case was listed before the Court today after Tesla Inc. filed an early hearing application. However, Tesla Inc. withdrew the application. Despite this, the Court noted that mediation had failed and decided to proceed with the hearing on April 15.
Tesla Inc. was represented in Court by advocate Nancy Roy from Lall & Sethi. On the other hand, Tesla Power India was represented by Senior Advocate Sai Deepak along with a team of lawyers from Sim & San.
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