In a setback to Tesla’s autonomous vehicle branding strategy, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has rejected the electric vehicle maker’s application to trademark the term “Robotaxi” for its upcoming self-driving vehicle service, citing the term as too descriptive and generic.

According to documents shared by Tesla investor Sawyer Merritt on X (formerly Twitter), the USPTO issued a refusal on the grounds that “Robotaxi” simply describes a key feature of the service Tesla plans to offer—namely, autonomous taxi services. The office determined that the term merely combines “robot” and “taxi,” making it descriptively obvious rather than distinctive.

“The applied-for mark merely describes a feature or characteristic of applicant’s goods and services,” the USPTO stated in its refusal notice, as reported by IoT World Today. The trademark examiner elaborated that the term “robotaxi” is commonly used in the industry to describe autonomous taxi services, making it ineligible for trademark protection.

This rejection comes at a critical juncture for Tesla, which has been building anticipation for its autonomous vehicle service. CEO Elon Musk has been promoting the company’s “Robotaxi” concept since 2016, with plans to unveil the purpose-built autonomous vehicle on August 8, according to Yahoo Finance. The company has positioned this service as a cornerstone of its future business model, promising that Tesla owners could eventually add their vehicles to a shared autonomous fleet.

Tesla still has options to respond to this initial refusal. The company has six months to submit arguments contesting the USPTO’s decision or to amend its application. As TechCrunch notes, Tesla could potentially overcome the rejection by demonstrating that the term has acquired distinctiveness through exclusive and continuous use, or by modifying its application to include more specific branding elements.

Industry analysts suggest this setback might force Tesla to reconsider its naming strategy for the autonomous service. “This rejection highlights the challenges companies face when trying to trademark terms that have become industry vernacular,” said a patent attorney quoted by IoT World Today.

The trademark refusal doesn’t prevent Tesla from using the term “Robotaxi” in its marketing materials or product launches, but it does limit the company’s ability to legally protect the name from competitors who might adopt similar terminology.

This development occurs against the backdrop of increasing competition in the autonomous vehicle space, with companies like Waymo, Cruise, and traditional automakers all developing their own self-driving taxi services. Without trademark protection, Tesla may find it more difficult to distinguish its offering in an increasingly crowded market.

Despite this regulatory hurdle, Tesla continues to develop its Full Self-Driving technology, which would power the autonomous taxi service. The company has been gradually expanding access to its FSD Beta software to more Tesla owners, though the system still requires active driver supervision.

As the August unveiling approaches, industry observers will be watching closely to see whether Tesla proceeds with the Robotaxi name despite the trademark rejection, or pivots to alternative branding for what Musk has described as a revolutionary product in the company’s lineup.