Tesla’s trademark application for the product name “Cybercab” has been suspended. That’s because the name has already been taken by another company that is squatting on it.

The squatter in question is Unibev, a French beverage company. Why would a beverage company want to take the name Cybercab from Tesla? According to Electrek, which obtained the suspension notice for Tesla from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), it may be related to tequila. Tesla owns three trademarks on the name Teslaquila, a name it attempted to use when it launched its own tequila.

The next question is: since the above photo shows that Tesla has been using the name Cybercab since at least 2024, how did they not already have it trademarked?

That’s because just two weeks after Elon Musk unveiled the Tesla Cybercab at a robotaxi event, Unibev filed an application to trademark Cybercab in the vehicle category. It wasn’t until sometime in November 2024 that Tesla filed its own trademark application.

Tesla now has a tough choice to make about using the name Cybercab

According to a suspension notice, the USPTO suspended Tesla’s application for Cybercab for two reasons. The first is because of a “Likelihood of Confusion” with an existing registration. The second reason is because of a Pending Priority Application – in other words, someone, Unibev, beat them to it.

Tesla has, of course, argued that it should receive the trademark. However, according to the suspension document, the examining attorney has “carefully considered” their arguments, “but does not find them to be persuasive.”

The United States Patent and Trademark Office has already shot down Tesla’s earlier attempts to trademark the name “Robotaxi.” So, now Tesla will either have to buy Univbev off or somehow convince the USPTO that the beverage company has no intent to build cars. (Hey, if a robot vacuum cleaner maker can build a car, a supercar at that, what’s stopping a beverage company?)

Regardless of which route Tesla chooses, it needs to do so quickly. The company has already announced its plans to begin producing the Cybercab, or whatever it ends up being called, as early as this April.

Little wonder that, with inept planning like this, China’s BYD has overtaken Tesla as the world’s top electric-vehicle seller.