Elon Musk sues Indian battery company Tesla Power for trademark infringement

Tesla, Inc., of which Elon Musk is CEO, has filed a lawsuit in India against an Indian battery company called Tesla Power over alleged trademark infringement. 

Musk’s Tesla, Inc. sent a cease-and-desist letter to the Gurgaon-based Tesla Power India, which also has a global office in Delaware as Tesla Power USA, two years ago, but said that the company continues to use its name in a hearing at the Delhi High Court this week. Tesla, Inc. is also incorporated in Delaware. 

Tesla Power India argued in the hearing that it makes "lead acid batteries," not batteries for electric vehicles and has no aspirations to venture into the EV industry. 

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Tesla Power’s mission is to "be the number one brand in the energy storage industry in India and a benchmark for best culture practices by 2025 through innovation, with focus on quality sustainable products and affordable solutions, thereby enhancing value of our people, our stakeholders, our service network partners and community," according to its website. 

The company told Reuters it has been in India much longer than Musk's Tesla.  

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Tesla Inc.’s senior counsel Chander Lall argued that Tesla Power India’s use of the name had not only caused confusion in the country but had also hurt their business amid impending layoffs. He added that Tesla, Inc. has started to receive complaints from customers meant for Tesla Power. 

The judge barred Tesla Power from releasing any promotions using the name Tesla until the next hearing on May 22. 

Tesla Power will have until then to give written responses for its defense, court records said. 

The lawsuit comes nearly two weeks after Musk canceled a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in favor of a visit to China, where he met with Premier Li Qiang to discuss deploying his advanced driver-assistance features there.

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Li reportedly expressed a desire for more trade cooperation with the U.S. during his surprise meeting with the Tesla CEO, according to Chinese outlet Xinhua.

Reuters contributed to this report.