TEQUILA REGULATORY COUNCIL FIGHT AGAINST ELON MUSK’S ‘TESLAQUILA’ TRADEMARK

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Tesla is an American automotive and energy company based in Palo Alto, California, specializing in electric car manufacturing and, through its SolarCity subsidiary, solar panel manufacturing.

On the 8^th of October, the company filed an application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to trademark “Teslaquila” for distilled agave liquor and “distilled blue agave liquor. This application was opposed by The Consejo Regulador del Tequila on the following basis;

·         Teslaquila is an unauthorized use of the denomination of origin for Tequila. In order for Tesla to make Teslaquila viable as a Tequila it would have to associate itself with an authorised tequila producer, comply with certain standards and request authorization from Mexico’s Industrial Property Institute.

·         Likelihood of confusion by consumers.

·         The CRT ensures producers in the Mexican states of Jalisco, Guanajuato, Michoacan, Nayarit and Tamaulipas adhere to strict rules and regulations for the production of DO Tequila.

News Source- The drinks business