Tesla ads can continue referring to autonomous driving, rules German court

Tesla can continue to refer to the autonomous driving technology in its advertisements, ruled a German court. This comes after a lawsuit was filed against the electric car manufacturer regarding its advertising referring to self-driving technology. The lawsuit was filed by Wettbewerbszentrale, an industry-sponsored body tasked with policing anti-competitive practices. However, Germany's Federal Court of Justice has overruled the complaint, reports Reuters.

A spokesperson for the court reportedly said that the complaint had been rejected on July 28, effectively allowing Tesla to keep using the phrases "full potential for autonomous driving" and "Autopilot inclusive" in its advertisements in Germany.

The complaint by Wettbewerbszentrale came in response to a ruling by the higher regional court in Munich in October 2021 that confirmed an appeal by Tesla against a previous verdict by a lower district court that prohibited the use of the phrases, claims the report.

Earlier this month, Tesla was also accused by a California state transportation regulator of falsely advertising its Autopilot and Full Self-Driving features as providing autonomous vehicle control.

Tesla Autopilot is one of the key features of the electric cars from the brand. While this is dubbed Autopilot, the technology is actually a semi-autonomous driving feature that works as a driver assistance system. It doesn't guarantee a complete self-driving system without human intervention.

Tesla Autopilot has been at the centre of controversies many times. Several accidents have been reported where Tesla Autopilot was accused of being at fault.