EV giant Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) has filed four trademark applications for four different candies named after its many EV products, in what seems to be an attempt at fulfilling its CEO's dream for better candies in the U.S.
What Happened: The trademark applications are for four pieces of candy named Cyberberry, Supercharged Gummies, Mango Bolt, and Dog Mode Chill. The applications have been accepted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office but have not been assigned to an examiner yet.
Musk has previously teased making his own candy company. "I'm starting a candy company & it's going to be amazing," Musk wrote on X in May 2018, while adding that he is "super serious."
The comment came in response to Warren Buffett who said, "Elon may turn things upside down in some areas. I don't think he'd want to take us on in candy." Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway owns California-based candy manufacturer See's Candies.
Earlier this year, the billionaire bemoaned the lack of good candies in America. "Actually, most countries have better candy than America. Why do we have subpar candy?," he posed.
Musk has often claimed that there is a shortage of research and development in candies, pegging it to the domination of the industry by a select few players.
Why It Matters: Musk has often stressed how competition is vital for improvement across industries.
Speaking at a New York Times DealBook Summit in November, Musk claimed that none of his companies have done anything to 'stifle' competition. On the other hand, Tesla and SpaceX have only aided competition, the CEO said. While Tesla has made all its patents open source and opened its supercharger network to rivals, SpaceX does not use patents, the CEO added.
"Let me put it this way, if there was a button I could press that would delete Blue Origin, I wouldn't press it," Musk then said.
However, while Musk's Tesla is currently dominating the global battery electric vehicle market, SpaceX is dominating the space travel segment.
According to data from analytics firm Bryce Tech, SpaceX launched about 429,125 kgs of spacecraft upmass in the first quarter alone, followed by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) which launched just 29,426 kgs. SpaceX's American rival United Launch Alliance, meanwhile, launched only 1,285 kgs of spacecraft upmass in the quarter.
Tesla, meanwhile, is the world's largest BEV seller. Though Chinese EV maker BYD Co took over the title in the last quarter of 2023, Tesla reclaimed it in the first quarter of 2024.