|
. | . |
|
by Staff Writers Beijing (AFP) Aug 07, 2014 Electric carmaker Tesla on Thursday said it has resolved a dispute with a Chinese businessman over the use of its trademarks in the country "at no cost" to the firm. Zhan Baosheng, said to be the founder of a cosmetics website in Guangzhou in the southern province of Guangdong, registered "Tesla" as a trademark in China in 2009 for 12 kinds of products including cars, according to a court in Beijing. The automaker sued Zhan last year for copyright infringement and illicit competition, seeking a total of 4.2 million yuan ($682,000) in compensation, the court said in a posting on China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo. In turn Zhan launched an action of his own, demanding Tesla close its showrooms, service centres and charging facilities in China, terminate all sales and marketing activities in the country and pay him 23.94 million yuan in compensation, the court said. But the two sides agreed to settle, with Zhan giving up his rights and claims to the trademarks and logos while Tesla dropped its compensation demand, it added. In its own statement, the company said the dispute had been "completely and amicably" resolved. "Collectively, these actions remove any doubt with respect to Tesla's undisputed rights to its trademarks in China," it said. At the same time, the firm had agreed to buy domain names including tesla.cn and teslamotors.cn from Zhan, it added without disclosing a value. But it dismissed speculations that Tesla has granted Zhan rights to deal its cars in Guangdong. Tesla previously denounced Zhan's lawsuit as an attempt to "steal" its property and "without any conceivable merit". It said Thursday that it "would like to thank Mr Zhan for his efforts in amicably reaching these agreements and wishes him the best". The groundbreaking manufacturer, which has stressed that its Model S battery-powered car has the same base price in China as in the US, added that it "looks forward to continuing to grow its business" in the country.
Related Links Car Technology at SpaceMart.com
|
|
The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement All images and articles appearing on Space Media Network have been edited or digitally altered in some way. Any requests to remove copyright material will be acted upon in a timely and appropriate manner. Any attempt to extort money from Space Media Network will be ignored and reported to Australian Law Enforcement Agencies as a potential case of financial fraud involving the use of a telephonic carriage device or postal service. |