With little fanfare, Tesla Motors opened its showroom in Beijing on Nov 2 and has since welcomed more than 500 visitors a day.

But the all-electric luxury car made in Palo Alto, California still faces a challenge before it can actually roll into the Chinese market - a trademark dispute.

"We have basically finished all administrative approval procedures," an executive at Tesla Motors China division told the China Times. "If there is any barrier stopping it coming to China, it's the trademark."

Because Tesla and Tesla Motors were already registered as trademarks by Chinese merchant Zhan Baosheng, the carmaker decided to change its name to "Tuosule" in China, a transliteration of Tesla to a dialect of Chinese spoken in Hong Kong.

According to the online database at Beijing's administration for industry and commerce, Tuosule Co was founded on Nov 7, 2012 as the exclusive distributor of Tuosule cars in China. The company is also responsible for parts, instruments and panels, and provides brokerage, display and technical services.

In 2006, Zhan applied for the Tesla trademark in the category of "land, air and sea transport vehicles", which was granted in June 2009. He also filed applications for Tesla Motors in 2007 and its Chinese name in 2012, but they were not approved because another Chinese national, Qiao Weiwei, applied for a similar trademark in 2006.

Although Tesla Motors acquired Qiao's trademark earlier this year, the trademark was registered in the category of railroad vehicles, sleighs, airplanes and ships, which means the US company still cannot use it for electric cars in China.

A report in the International Finance News said Tesla Motors tried to buy the trademark from Zhan for $2 million, but negotiations failed after he asked for $30 million.

Still, the newspaper said the company's founder and CEO Elon Musk "obviously will not give up the Tesla name".

Tesla Motors plans to deliver its first shipment to Chinese consumers in the beginning of next year, Musk said at a press conference last week. But he did not specify what badge the cars will carry.

Since it began taking pre-orders from China on Aug 22, the company has sold hundreds of its Model S cars despite unclear pricing, delivery dates and a hefty down payment of 250,000 yuan ($41,050).

The car company's latest financial report shows that in the third quarter of the year it sold out all its inventory, delivering 5,500 Model S cars. It sold nearly 16,000 units in the first three quarters, generating revenues of $431 million.

Musk said market demand is no problem, but productivity is.

The company has signed a $7 billion contract for battery cells with Panasonic, which calls for the Japanese company to provide 2 billion battery cells for the current Model S, the future Model X and an SUV over the next four years.

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(China Daily 11/13/2013 page17)