A dispute between a
chicken shop
owner in Greater Manchester and electric car manufacturer
Tesla
has ended with the owner losing £12,000 in legal fees after failing to defend his trademark.
According to a report by BBC, Amanj Ali, 41, who runs Colorado's Chicken in Bury, registered the trademark "Tesla Chicken & Pizza" with the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) in May 2020, intending to use it for his new takeaway business.
Tesla, the multinational corporation known for its electric cars, objected to Ali's trademark, arguing that it would exploit Tesla's brand reputation.
Ali explained that his inspiration for the trademark stemmed from the Serbian-American inventor Nikola Tesla, admired for his intellect and engineering contributions. "He was a kind of intelligent guy... in my young age, I was... reading about him, looking at his pictures,” he told the BBC.
Initially, Tesla did not contest Mr. Ali's trademark during the standard two-month window following its registration. However, in November 2021, Ali received notice from the IPO that Tesla had applied for trademark protection in the UK for food and drink services, including restaurant offerings like pop-up and self-service establishments.
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Feeling threatened by Tesla's move, Ali opposed the application, fearing it could jeopardize his own business aspirations.
Despite his efforts, Ali ultimately lost the
legal battle
, leaving him emotionally and financially drained. He admitted that the two-year-long dispute took a toll on his well-being, affecting his ability to sleep and work. "To be honest, I couldn't sleep well... sometimes I couldn't work," he said. "Imagine, I'm just a small businessman running one chicken shop, and there is a big company coming which is owned by the richest man in the world,” he added.
Court documents reveal that Tesla accused Mr. Ali of attempting to sell his trademark for an exorbitant sum of £750,000, a claim Mr. Ali refutes. He insists that any discussions of selling his trademark were misunderstood, stating that he never intended to sell it to Tesla.
English (US) ·