Elon Musk just can’t catch a break lately: Tesla Inc. is now being accused of stealing a third-party design for a cat bed, of all things.
According to Carscoops, the company had allegedly copied a miniature cat house produced by a lesser-known Taiwanese vendor without asking for permission. The carmaker had launched several non-car-related products before, but claimed that the Cat Bed was actually inspired by its electric pickup, the Cybertruck.
You can order the simplistic cat bed from Tesla’s official website in China. One would think the company might as well bother to come up with its own, original design for it – but as it now turns out, it may have copied an existing design by Taiwan-based Hulumao. Perhaps it liked how it looked almost like the Cybertruck with all the plain surfaces and sharp edges.
Hulumao has been making its cat beds since 2017 and even received an award for its innovative design. If you take a closer look at the photos below, you will notice that the two beds are basically identical except for the branding.
Tesla has not commented on the incident yet.