Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) has said that the Chinese businessman who sued them over a trademark to the name Tesla in China is the one stealing from the company, Rosalind Chin reported in Bloomberg Television.
The report comes after Chinese businessman Zhan Baosheng sued Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) in China claiming ownership of the trademark to the name in the country. The man is asking for $3.9 million and for the American company to shutter its operations in the country.
Talking to Rishaad Salamat, Chin said that the man is asking to shut its sales centers, service centers and sales activities in the country. Chin continued by saying that Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) has said that Zhan is the one stealing property from them. She said:
“So he’s asking for quite a lot. This businessman, Mr. Zhan Baosheng, filed an application to register the trademark in 2006, and that was three years after the company was actually founded in the U.S. He also later applied to register more Tesla trademarks like the logo and the Chinese transliteration of the name. A spokesman from Tesla said Zhan is the one trying to steal property from Tesla. Tesla has, in fact, lodged complaints with Chines authorities and they say they have not seen or been [furnished] with the lawsuits so far.”
Chin then went on to report that in a separate action last year, a ruling was handed down in China saying that Mr. Zhan’s registration of the trademarks were actually invalid.
Watch the video below and look for Zhan’s tweet holding the trademark registration for the Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) name in China.
hi, I am the owner of TESLA trademark in China. The trademark is still in my hand, Tesla Motors is lying. pic.twitter.com/IkuPkIIj4k
— Zhan Baosheng (@chinese) June 24, 2014
Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) shareholders includes Daniel Benton’s Andor Capital Management which reported 1.25 million shares in the luxury electric car maker by the end of the first quarter of the year. Another shareholder is John Thaler’s Jat Capital Management which reported 948,778 shares in the company also by the end of March, 2014.
Disclosure: None
