I'm LongbridgeAI, I can summarize articles.Tesla, SpaceX, and xAI filed a declaratory judgment lawsuit in federal court against TERA-print LLC regarding the 'Terafab' trademark dispute. After failed settlement negotiations, the tech giants seek a ruling that their use of the name does not infringe on TERA-print's existing trademark for desktop photolithography equipment. The companies argue no consumer confusion exists between their massive $16.8 billion semiconductor manufacturing project and TERA-print's laboratory devices.
Tesla, SpaceX and xAI have taken their dispute over the Terafab trademark to federal court after settlement discussions with semiconductor equipment company TERA-print failed.
The companies filed a declaratory judgment lawsuit this week in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, asking a judge to rule that their use of the Terafab name does not infringe TERA-print LLC’s existing “Tera-Fab” trademark.
The dispute began in May shortly after Tesla and its partners revealed plans for Terafab, a massive semiconductor manufacturing project in Texas aimed at producing chips for artificial intelligence applications.
Tesla filed three U.S. trademark applications on May 18 for “Terafab” and “Tesla Terafab,” covering semiconductor chips and related manufacturing services. TERA-print, which has held the “Tera-Fab” trademark since 2021 for its desktop photolithography equipment used by researchers, filed an expanded trademark application on May 22 covering areas including semiconductor materials, silicon chips, nanoelectronic devices and AI design services.
The following day, TERA-print sent a cease-and-desist letter to Tesla, according to court documents. The company later threatened legal action on June 10, alleging trademark infringement, false designation and unfair competition.
Both sides participated in six settlement meetings between June and August, but those discussions ultimately failed, leading Tesla, SpaceX and xAI to seek a court ruling.
Tesla and SpaceX argue there is little chance of consumer confusion between the two products. The companies say their Terafab project is planned as a roughly $16.8 billion semiconductor complex spanning about 100 million square feet in Grimes County, Texas, while TERA-print’s product is a tabletop laboratory printer.
TERA-print CTO Andrey Ivankin told PCMag the company feels it was misled during the discussions and intends to defend its trademark. He also noted the company holds a U.S. Department of Defense contract and partially owns Mattiq Inc.
The trademark case will now move forward in federal court as Tesla continue development of the large-scale chip manufacturing facility.