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That's not the way trademarks work.. Tesla has a trademark only in the fields they compete in: solar, cars, batteries. They can't stop you from starting Tesla C

That's not the way trademarks work.. Tesla has a trademark only in the fields they compete in: solar, cars, batteries. They can't stop you from starting Tesla Coffee Shop, or (in this case) Tesla VR suit.

cwkoss 9y ago
Tesla VR suit name is creating a recipe for failure: if you think you can make a long-term viable VR suit company without ever using batteries (always tethered!) limits future growth potential greatly.
- rgbrenner 9y ago
  That's also not the way trademarks work. To violate Tesla's trademark they need compete in the battery market. Trademarks don't get you rights to every market that utilizes the type of item you sell.
  - cwkoss 9y ago
    You're right. But, they don't need to be technically in violation for a lawsuit to still put them out of business. A dash of legal ambiguity is often enough for a deep-pocketed company to cause a lot of pain, regardless of the letter of the law.
  - ars 9y ago
    > they need compete in the battery market There is no battery trademark category. Only electronics, which covers both batteries and this suit. So yes, they do need to change their name.
CamperBob2 9y ago
I was mostly being facetious, but the reality is that things are a little more complicated than that in the trademark business. The court will start by asking one question along the lines of, "Is there a good chance that a typical customer in the market for either product will be confused regarding the origin of the goods?" The weasel words in that question will leave plenty of room for argument on both sides. (IANAL, but have had cause to look into this question recently.)
justasitsounds 9y ago
It is the way jokes work, however
ars 9y ago
> in the fields they compete in: solar, cars, batteries Those are not trademark categories. Here's a list: http://www.tmweb.com/trademark_classes.asp http://www.tmweb.com/trademark_classes.asp In particular note Class 09, which covers solar and batteries AND this haptic suit.

cwkoss 9y ago

Tesla VR suit name is creating a recipe for failure: if you think you can make a long-term viable VR suit company without ever using batteries (always tethered!) limits future growth potential greatly.

rgbrenner 9y ago
That's also not the way trademarks work. To violate Tesla's trademark they need compete in the battery market. Trademarks don't get you rights to every market that utilizes the type of item you sell.
- cwkoss 9y ago
  You're right. But, they don't need to be technically in violation for a lawsuit to still put them out of business. A dash of legal ambiguity is often enough for a deep-pocketed company to cause a lot of pain, regardless of the letter of the law.
- ars 9y ago
  > they need compete in the battery market There is no battery trademark category. Only electronics, which covers both batteries and this suit. So yes, they do need to change their name.

CamperBob2 9y ago

I was mostly being facetious, but the reality is that things are a little more complicated than that in the trademark business. The court will start by asking one question along the lines of, "Is there a good chance that a typical customer in the market for either product will be confused regarding the origin of the goods?" The weasel words in that question will leave plenty of room for argument on both sides. (IANAL, but have had cause to look into this question recently.)

justasitsounds 9y ago

It is the way jokes work, however

ars 9y ago

> in the fields they compete in: solar, cars, batteries Those are not trademark categories. Here's a list: http://www.tmweb.com/trademark_classes.asp http://www.tmweb.com/trademark_classes.asp In particular note Class 09, which covers solar and batteries AND this haptic suit.