Elon Musk’s robotaxi ambitions hit with major roadblock | Official Website of Louis Velazquez, entrepreneur, finance guy and tech innovator

One of this year’s most highly anticipated events for both car and tech enthusiasts is the looming rollout of the Tesla robotaxi.

For years, the Tesla (TSLA) CEO has touted the self-driving cars he’s promised the company will deliver. This has included pushing back its launch date, which he has claimed is necessary to allow engineers more time to develop the technology.

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However, this has also sparked skepticism that his ambitious plans to corner the autonomous driving market will succeed, as rivals continue to introduce self-driving tech into their vehicles, both in the U.S. and China.

The clock is ticking, and some experts have speculated that Tesla is already falling behind in the driverless race.

Now, a new development reveals that Musk is facing even more challenges as Tesla prepares for what it claims will mark its robotaxi launch in 2025.

Tesla’s quest to roll out the new self-driving Robotaxi and Cybercab has hit an unexpected bump.

Image source&colon; van der Wal/Getty Images

Elon Musk’s road to the driverless race isn’t going as planned

Given Musk’s reputation for championing futuristic technologies, many people have expected Tesla to lead us to a future with fully self-driving cars. However, the autopilot software behind its self-driving push has reportedly caused plenty of on-road incidents, enough to spark federal investigations.

In December 2024, Musk announced that Tesla would start rolling out its long-awaited robotaxis in June 2025, exciting fans of the company. However, experts have claimed that these electric vehicles (EVs) won’t be fully self-driving, as they will be assisted by a remote human operator.

Now Musk is facing a new obstacle, this time from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Tesla’s attempts to copyright the name Robotaxi have run up against roadblocks, as the government agency argues that the name is too generic to trademark.

That’s not the company’s only patent problem, though. According to a regulatory filing dated April 23, the company’s application to trademark the name Cybercab has been suspended, as other firms have recently attempted to do the same with similar terms, including a Cybertruck accessory dealer called CyberLandr.

On May 6, the USPTO issued a “nonfinal office action” to Tesla regarding its Robotaxi trademark application.

This refers to the process in which a trademark examiner informs the filer of problems that it must address for the application to proceed. If Tesla does not file a response within a three-month period, the application will be discarded.

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This doesn’t mean Tesla can’t trademark the term Robotaxi, but it does mean it will take longer to do so.

“Tesla will be allowed to submit evidence and arguments to support its argument in favor of the trademark,” TechCrunch reports. “If it does, the USPTO wants Tesla to provide “[f]act sheets, instruction manuals, brochures, advertisements and pertinent screenshots of applicant’s website as it relates to the goods and/or services in the application, including any materials using the terms in the applied-for mark.”

As it fights for its trademark, Tesla is planning the Robotaxi rollout

So far, neither Tesla nor Musk has issued any official statements on the trademark application problems. But this seems to be coming at a highly inconvenient time, as Tesla may be aiming to start rolling out its robotaxi in the near future.

Tesla hasn’t officially confirmed when it plans to begin the rollout in Austin, Texas. On May 1, though, the company’s AI account shared a cryptic post that simply posed the question “How long until June?” This seems to point toward June as the month for the robotaxi’s official public road debut.

Even if Tesla can successfully convince the USPTO that it deserves to trademark the term Robotaxi, it likely won’t be able to do so before the June rollout.

But that’s not the only obstacle the company is facing in the self-driving car market. Tesla rival Waymo has successfully put self-driving vehicles on the road and partnered with Uber, establishing itself as an early leader in the space.

As TheStreet’s Tony Owusu reports, “Waymo’s current fleet features over 1,500 vehicles spread across its four current host cities, but by next year, it expects to more than double its fleet with more than 2,000 new additions.”

Tesla may have a difficult time trademarking the names Robotaxi and Cybercab, but it will likely have an even harder time catching up to Waymo.