Delhi High Court extends interim relief to Elon Musk’s Tesla in Trademark row

The Delhi High Court has extended interim relief to Elon Musk’s Tesla, directing that the earlier undertaking by Tesla Power India—promising not to manufacture or market electric vehicles or use the “Tesla” name or any deceptively similar branding—will remain in force until the final disposal of the trademark infringement suit filed by the US automaker, as per a report by Bar and Bench.

The order was passed by Justice Tejas Karia, with a detailed judgment awaited.

Tesla Inc had approached the High Court in May 2024 after Tesla Power India publicly announced plans to enter the electric vehicle market and carried newspaper advertisements using the TESLA mark. The company argued that a cease-and-desist notice had been issued in April 2022 to Tesla Power India and its associated entity Tesla Power USA, but the Indian firm had continued to market products under the disputed branding.

During the first hearing, the proprietor of Tesla Power India appeared in court and undertook that the company had no intention of manufacturing EVs and would not market electric vehicles—its own or others’—under ‘TESLA POWER USA’ or any brand deceptively similar to ‘TESLA’.

However, in later proceedings Musk’s Tesla alleged that the Indian entity had begun manufacturing e-scooters under the Tesla name. On 28 May last year, the Court directed the defendants to file an affidavit detailing the EVs sold by them, the dealers involved, launch dates, sales figures since launch, and current stock levels.

The matter was subsequently referred to mediation, which failed, bringing the dispute back before the Court for adjudication on merits, as per Bar and Bench.

Senior Advocate Chander M Lall, along with Advocates Nancy Roy, Raghav Malik, Prakriti Varshney, Lalit Alley and Prashant, appeared for Tesla Inc. Senior Advocate Sai Deepak, assisted by Advocate Siddhant Goel and Mohit Goel of Sim & San, represented Tesla Power India.