Elon Musk’s Tesla Sues British Teenager Over 3D-Printed Keyrings
ELON Musk’s Tesla is demanding millions from a British teenager who sold a handful of 3D-printed keyrings with the company’s brand. The 14-year-old is one of several teens facing mass copyright action from the US giant.
Tesla Lawsuit Against British Teenager
Each faces having to pay $2 million (£1.6 million) in damages. They are accused of “unfair competition” and have had online shop accounts frozen. The trademark counterfeiting lawsuit identifies hundreds of products which have been advertised on e-commerce sites such as eBay. It states that Tesla “is suffering irreparable injury”.
Evidence of Infringement
Items listed in the evidence files include a T-shirt printed with a cartoon of Musk standing by a Tesla Cybertruck and sunglasses printed with the Tesla logo. On January 12, 2021, Elon Musk wrote on X/Twitter: “You can steal our name/logo & we probably won’t sue you.”
Teenager’s Ordeal
One UK seller said: “I’d only ever sold one hoodie on Etsy with a Tesla logo on it and made £3 profit. I knew of the Tweet and listed it for sale after I tweeted back asking if it was OK to sell a hoodie. “The demand for $2 million came out of the blue.” The seller added: “The poor 14-year-old is scared rigid. “I wonder what billionaire Elon would think of it?”