In 2019, Riz Nwozu was inspired by Tesla Cybertruck and created a backpack based on it. By 2021 he had a website and a prototype made for the backpack. In less than six months of the website being made, Tesla had trademarked the name “Cyberbackpack”.
Back in December, Riz said he has been developing the “CYBERBACKPACK,” an idea that blossomed from a product unveiling nearly two and a half years ago. “I began designing and building what would become the Cyberbackpack,” Riz said in a blog post he published shortly after reports of Tesla trademarking the name. This all occurred just six months ago, with the first prototypes arriving at his house in March 2022. Later that month, the product would launch on ProductHunt and Spotify, as Riz had received plenty of inquiries from potential customers.
Later in March, Riz reached out to Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Twitter and other prominent figures within the company, looking to collaborate on the idea. He felt as if the Cyberbackpack would be something both he and the automaker could benefit from. The Cybertruck, with its mass appeal and loyal following, would likely do well in a “backpack” version, and it would be a dream for Riz, who purchased his first Tesla in March 2016.
The trademark
Then by April 5, Tesla trademarked the “CYBERBACKPACK” name, bringing some speculation that the automaker had approached the fan to purchase or collaborate on his idea. After all, Riz’s website, Cyberbackpack.com, was not active when the initial reports came out earlier this week, which only fueled the speculation that Tesla probably liked the idea and decided to approach him about it. Riz was alarmed, however, as Tesla didn’t contact him about the bag, nor his idea or the name of the product. They had instead trademarked the name of the backpack, which sent Riz into a state of confusion.
Riz said to Teslarati, “I decided to temporarily take the site down after receiving a bunch of orders and reaching out to Tesla. I thought it best to rework the site and get my manufacturer set up properly and then relaunch. Tesla never contacted me.”
When asked about the reasons behind the move by Tesla, One lawyer explained that it was a “strategic” and “defensive” strategy. So that Tesla may use it to avoid a situation like Apple did with its AirPods. Apple had so many counterfeit AirPod designs on the market. It had to do damage control on knockoffs, as some were catching fire or having other dangerous malfunctions. The issue is that Apple could prove that consumers immediately think of “Apple” when they see designs of AirPod knockoffs. This is essentially dangerous to Apple, even though they did not create the AirPod knockoffs. Because consumer sentiment relates that design to Apple, and not to a third-party company.
