A US car manufacturing company which is attempting to break into the Chinese market has been met with opposition by a local businessman who already holds a trademark for its name. Telsa Motors, which designs and sells electric cars, has been unable to register a trademark after learning that it already belonged to Chinese local Zhan Baosheng, who is allegedly demanding a multi-million-dollar fee in exchange for its use.

In 2006, Zhan applied for the Tesla trademark in the category of “l(fā)and, air and sea transport vehicles.” It was granted in June 2009. Although Tesla acquired Qiao’s trademark earlier this year, it was only registered for “railroad vehicles, sleighs, airplanes and ships,” meaning it cannot be used for cars. Tesla has reportedly offered Zhan 2 million yuan ($326,000). However, according to automobile industry website Autoblog.com Zhan is demanding a far higher fee, in the area of $32 million.