UK takeaway boss hit with £12k authorized invoice from Tesla after selecting rooster store identify | UK | News | EUROtoday

Hard-working Amanj said he had originally applied for his trademark as he hoped to open a new takeaway business in the Greater Manchester area.

He already had a chicken shop called Colorado’s, but felt his new branch would need an alternative name as it would have a different identity.

Amanj claims he struck upon ‘Tesla Chicken & Pizza’ as the famed inventor had left a mark on him when he was a youngster.

And he planned for his new restaurant to have a mural dedicated to the trailblazer, who pioneered modern alternating current supply systems in electricity.

Amanj said: “In my younger age, I examine him… I do not know whether or not it’s true or not, however some individuals declare he invented a variety of issues.”

“For my Colorado’s model, we do rooster solely however with Tesla Chicken & Pizza, I wished to do pizza as properly.”

“And we have been planning once we open the restaurant, we can have a wall that may have a Nikola Tesla image.”

Amanj’s trademark was successfully registered in ‘class 43’ for food and drink services, but his plans for a new restaurant later stalled due to the pandemic.

And in November 2021, he got emails from the UK’s Intellectual Property Office (IPO), saying another party had applied for the ‘Tesla’ trademark in the same section.

Stunned Amanj said he had no idea that electric car manufacturer Tesla was behind the application until he researched them on the internet.

He said: “When we Googled that tackle, it was the headquarters of Tesla Motors.”

“I’m a micro businessman being confronted [with] one of many richest man’s firms, [so] I discovered a solicitor, and I referred to as them.”

Working with his lawyer, Amanj said representatives from Tesla offered him £750 to sell the rights to his trademark to them in May 2022.

But he was dismayed by this proposal and claims he then joked with his legal team that only ‘£750,000’ would be enough to let him give it up.

Amanj said his lawyer then relayed this to Tesla’s representatives as a matter of fact, and later they used this to successfully argue he had acted in “dangerous religion”.

Amanj said: “At that point, they form of made me chuckle and I used to be offended, I simply shortly replied to my solicitor, ‘Tell them my shopper will settle for your provide with a ‘ok’ subsequent to it.'”

“But my solicitor replied, ‘He will not settle for the £750 however as a substitute, he’ll settle for £750,000’… Tesla’s solicitor used that towards me.”

Court documents also revealed how Tesla’s lawyers argued that a tweet sent by Elon Musk in January 2018 made clear his ambitions to start up a restaurant franchise using the company’s name.

It read: “Gonna put an old style drive-in, curler skates & rock restaurant at one of many new Tesla Supercharger areas in LA.”

They also suggested that Amanj was “conversant in the commerce mark system” and was aware of Musk’s huge $206bn fortune due to his posts on social media.

But after the case, Amanj said many people were aware of Musk’s wealth and questioned whether the tweet was a legitimate business proposal as it hadn’t yet materialised.

Amanj fumed: “I mentioned, ‘I have not opened my restaurant but, however you have not both?'”

As part of the IPO’s ruling in late November last year, Amanj was forced to pay Tesla £4,000 while also shelling out £8,000 in fees for his solicitor.

But despite the crushing defeat, he doesn’t bear a grudge toward the world’s richest man.

Amanj added: “I’m the kind of person who I haven’t got any hate towards anybody. I’m too busy to hate individuals.”

Tesla has been contacted for remark.