Delhi HC grants interim relief to Elon Musk's Tesla in trademark dispute
New Delhi, Nov 24, 2025
The Delhi High Court on Monday granted interim relief to Elon Musk’s Tesla Inc in its trademark infringement case against Tesla Power India, reported Bar and Bench.
A Bench of Justice Tejas Karia passed the order restricting Tesla Power to refrain from using, soliciting, offering services or advertising under the impugned mark on any of its products, reported Mint.
The direction came as a continuation of an earlier undertaking by the proprietor of Tesla Power India at the outset of the proceedings. The company had told the court it had no intention of manufacturing electric vehicles (EV) and would not market EVs under the name ‘TESLA POWER USA’ or any branding deceptively similar to “Tesla”.
What's the case?
Tesla Inc had approached the High Court in May 2024, alleging that Tesla Power India is using 'TESLA' mark on its products and had published newspaper advertisements signalling its move into the EV market.
It argued it had issued a cease-and-desist notice to Tesla Power India and Tesla Power USA in April 2022, but the defendants continued to promote their products using the Tesla trademark. The company later alleged that Tesla Power India had begun producing e-scooters carrying the Tesla branding despite the earlier undertaking, reported Bar and Bench.
On May 28, 2024, the court asked Tesla Power India to provide full details of any EVs it had sold. The company later told the court it had instructed partners and vendors to remove the Tesla logo from e-Ashwa scooters that were being sold under a marketing partnership, Mint reported.
Tesla Power argued that its core business was supplying lead-acid batteries for automobiles, inverters and UPS systems, and that it did not manufacture EVs. It claimed advertisements using the Tesla name stemmed from a promotional arrangement with e-Ashwa and that it had no intention of producing or selling EVs under its own brand, the report added.
The matter was subsequently referred to mediation, but the process did not succeed. The High Court has now resumed hearing the case on its merits, Bar and Bench reported.
Tesla in India
The US-based EV maker, which recently entered the Indian market, sold 69 units in September and 40 in October, according to data from the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA). The company has opened showrooms in Mumbai and Delhi, and by early November had reportedly secured around 600 bookings in India.
[The Business Standard]
