On May 27, 2021, Elon Musk’s Tesla, Inc. filed three intent-to-use service mark applications in International Class 43 (services for providing food and drink; temporary accommodation) for “TESLA”, “TESLA” (stylized), and its well-known “T” (stylized).[1] Specifically, Tesla wants the registrations to cover restaurant services, as well as pop-up, self-service, and take-out restaurant services. The applications come after years of Musk tweeting about his desire to build 1950’s themed drive-in restaurants at Tesla Supercharger[2] locations. Moreover, in 2017 Tesla’s co-founder and former Chief Technical Officer, J.B. Straubel, reportedly told attendees at the FSTEC restaurant conference that Tesla had already started working on restaurant and convenience store concepts.[3] Tesla’s applications will be assigned to a USPTO examiner for review in approximately three months.
[1] https://uspto.report/TM/90740067; https://uspto.report/TM/90740072; https://uspto.report/TM/90740074.
[2] Tesla Supercharger, Wikipedia ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_Supercharger) (last accessed Jun. 3, 2021 at 10:23 AM).
[3] Rhett Jones, Elon Musk Says Rockin’ Drive-In Restaurant, Roller Skating, and Theater Coming to Tesla Supercharger Station, Gizmodo (Jan. 8, 2018 at 10:08 AM) ( https://gizmodo.com/elon-musk-says-rockin-drive-in-restaurant-roller-skat-1821870133).