Elon Musk might be facing some serious trouble in his quest to make Tesla Motors a global brand.
埃隆·穆斯克一心想将特斯拉汽车公司(Tesla Motors)打造成一个全球知名品牌,但他现在可能真的碰上大麻烦了。
The CEO of the electric car company is facing a trademark dispute in China, one of the foreign markets he was hoping to break into, according to Bloomberg News.
据彭博新闻社(Bloomberg News)报道,这家电动汽车公司的首席执行官在中国正面临商标纠纷,而中国是他非常希望打入的海外市场之一。
Tesla began delivering Model S Sedans to China in April. That triggered a trademark suit from businessman Zhan Baosheng, who owns the trademark to the name in China.
今年4月,特斯拉开始在中国市场投放Model S车型。这个举措促使中国商人占宝生提起了商标诉讼,他称自己在中国拥有特斯拉这个商标。
Zhan wants Tesla to stop all marketing activities, and he is seeking around $3.9 million from the company. Zhan may face an uphill battle in winning his challenge though, as last year a Chinese regulator sided with Tesla regarding the trademark dispute.
占宝生希望特斯拉公司取消所有营销活动,同时还要求这家公司赔偿约390万美元。不过占宝生要想赢下这场官司恐怕将面临艰苦的斗争,因为去年中国有位监管者明确表示,他在这场商标之争中支持特斯拉公司。
Bloomberg notes that other companies, such as Apple and Burberry, have faced international trademark disputes in the past.
彭博社指出,苹果公司(Apple)和博柏利公司(Burberry)这些企业过去都曾深陷国际商标争端。
The latest development casts a pall over Tesla’s ambition to expand in the world’s biggest auto market.
最近这场争端无疑为特斯拉拓展中国这个全球最大的汽车市场的雄心壮志蒙上了一层阴影。