Elon Musk's Teslaquila heads for high noon with Mexican tequila
Industry group south of the border digging in against bid by Tesla to trademark its disruptive high-octane offering
Tesla co-founder Elon Musk and Mexico’s tequila producers could be headed for a collision after the agave-based drink’s industry group opposed the flamboyant billionaire's efforts to trademark an alcoholic drink dubbed Teslaquila. One of the world’s richest people and CE of Tesla, Musk is known for ambitious and cutting-edge projects ranging from vehicle electrification and rocket building to high-speed transit tunnels. Now it seems Musk could be setting his sights on disrupting the multibillion-dollar tequila industry. On October 12, he tweeted “Teslaquila coming soon” and an accompanying “visual approximation” of a red and white label with the Tesla logo and a caption that stated “100 percent Puro de Agave”. Not so fast, said Mexico’s Tequila Regulatory Council. It said the “name Teslaquila evokes the word Tequila ... [and] Tequila is a protected word”. The council keeps tabs on producers to make sure they stick to strict denomination of origin rules, which dictate the spirit must...
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