Luxury electric car maker Tesla Motors has approved a deal that resolves a trademark dispute in China which had put the carmaker in a quandary over how to boost retail sales in the East Asian country.
The Palo Alto-based automaker dispute was with Zhan Baosheng, who had the rights to the company's name in China and claimed he registered the name before Tesla had entered the Chinese market.
Baosheng now says the dispute is "completely and amicably" over. He will be handing over the rights to Tesla to use the name in China as well as websites he had registered in China using the automaker's name.
The financial details of the agreement were not disclosed by either party.
"Mr. Zhan has agreed to have the Chinese authorities complete the process of canceling the Tesla trademarks that he had registered or applied for, at no cost to Tesla," the company said. "Collectively, these actions remove any doubt with respect to Tesla's undisputed rights to its trademarks in China."
The company praised the Chinese authorities "for laying the groundwork" to resolve the trademark issue, adding that it "looks forward to continuing to grow its business in China and to expanding the impact of electric vehicles in this very important market."
Tesla is looking to the Chinese market as a lucrative sales opportunity, but the trademark issue had threatened to derail that possibility the brand was off limits.
It is just one bit of optimistic news for Tesla in recent weeks. The company, with the hope of increasing the number of vehicles it manufactures annually, is launching a gigafactory to mass produce batteries used in its electric cars, as Tech Times reports.
While the location of the factory remains a mystery, the company is reported to have broken ground in Nevada. At the same time, however, California remains a potential choice given legislation to give tax breaks for companies establishing factories in the state. The company could break ground at multiple locations in order to ensure one is completed.
