Tesla Motors has settled a trademark dispute in Europe with a Soviet-era maker of old black and white televisions.

Related Company Profiles

View all

The California-based electric car maker’s applications for the Tesla trademark in the EU has stalled on opposition from Tesla Holding as, a 90-year-old supplier of communications and broadcast equipment based in the Czech Republic.

Tesla Motors has settled the matter by filing amended trademark applications with the EU’s Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market. According to OHIM data, the Czech firm had filed oppositions to Tesla Motors’ applications for the Tesla mark in 2007 and earlier this year. Those oppositions have now been withdrawn.

Tesla Holding is a successor to the massive, state-owned Tesla conglomerate that churned out communist-era electronics.

Pre-1989, hotel rooms in what was then Czechoslovakia were often equipped with a small, black and white Tesla TV. The company also provided transceivers for more than 60% of the radio and TV broadcasts in the former Soviet Union.

How well do you really know your competitors?

Access the most comprehensive Company Profiles on the market, powered by GlobalData. Save hours of research. Gain competitive edge.

Company Profile – free sample

Thank you!

Your download email will arrive shortly

Not ready to buy yet? Download a free sample

We are confident about the unique quality of our Company Profiles. However, we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, so we offer a free sample that you can download by submitting the below form

By GlobalData
Visit our Privacy Policy for more information about our services, how we may use, process and share your personal data, including information of your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications. Our services are intended for corporate subscribers and you warrant that the email address submitted is your corporate email address.

See Also:

After the fall of communism, Tesla Holding was privatised. In 2007, it was acquired by Prague-based investment firm Kilcullen Kapital Partners.

The Czech firm now offers technologies for water treatment and military communications, while guarding a trademark it claims to have registered in dozens of countries.

Tesla Motors said it has amended its trademark applications to overcome any objection of Tesla Holding.

Tesla Holding confirmed that it has withdrawn its opposition, adding that Tesla Motors’ amended trademark applications now better reflect the “different business focus of our companies”.

Tesla Motors disclosed the trademark dispute in a regulatory filing for its initial public offering of shares, which took place in June. The company did not identify the trademark owner claiming prior rights.