Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) may have sparked fresh investor curiosity this month when it filed a trademark application for “MEGAPOD,” a name tied to what the company describes as modular hardware systems for artificial intelligence computing.
But Tesla isn’t the first company to stake a claim to the unusual name.
A review of U.S. trademark records shows that MEGAPOD has quietly appeared in filings spanning toys, industrial power systems and outdoor equipment over the past 17 years. The difference is that Tesla’s version could be attached to one of Wall Street’s hottest themes: artificial intelligence infrastructure.
Mattel’s MEGAPOD Never Made It Out Of The Toy Box
The earliest major corporate claim to the name came from Mattel, Inc. (NASDAQ:MAT)
In September 2009, the toy giant filed a trademark application for MEGAPOD covering “toys, games and playthings.” The effort never got off the ground. The application was abandoned in 2010 after the company failed to respond to a trademark office action. The trademark was never registered.
Whatever Mattel had envisioned for the name, it never reached consumers.
Mitsubishi Turned MEGAPOD Into A Real Product
A year later, Mitsubishi Electric Power Products took a very different approach.
The company filed its own MEGAPOD trademark application in January 2011. Unlike Mattel’s attempt, Mitsubishi successfully registered the name and used it for industrial uninterruptible power supply systems designed for commercial and industrial applications.
The trademark remains active today following its renewal. That connection is particularly interesting because power has become one of the biggest constraints facing the AI industry.
As companies race to build larger AI clusters, securing electricity is increasingly becoming as important as securing chips.
Even A Tent Company Wanted The Name
The MEGAPOD story doesn’t stop there.
In 2024, Under the Weather LLC secured a registration for MEGAPOD covering clear pop-up tents and weather shelters. The trademark remains active and registered. At first glance, the connection seems completely random.
Yet it highlights how a single brand name can migrate across entirely different industries, taking on new meanings each time.
Tesla’s Version Could Be The Most Ambitious Yet
Tesla’s filing, submitted on June 18, is arguably the most intriguing MEGAPOD application so far.
According to the trademark filing, the company is seeking protection for “modular data center hardware systems for artificial intelligence computing” and related AI computing hardware. The application is currently pending. The filing immediately sparked speculation because it arrived just months after Elon Musk discussed deploying computing hardware and referenced roughly 7 gigawatts of available power at Tesla’s Supercharger network.
Tesla has not disclosed what a future MEGAPOD product might look like, nor has the company linked the trademark to any specific initiative.
Still, the filing offers one of the clearest indications yet that Tesla may be exploring a larger role in AI infrastructure.
From Toys To Power Systems To AI
For most companies, trademark filings rarely attract investor attention. But the history of MEGAPOD shows how the same name can represent very different ambitions.
For Mattel, it was a toy concept that never reached the market. For Mitsubishi, it became a long-running industrial power product. For Tesla, it may become something else entirely.
Investors may not know exactly what MEGAPOD is yet. But if Tesla ultimately turns the trademark into a real product, it could become the most valuable version of MEGAPOD ever created.
Photo Courtesy: Kittyfly on Shutterstock.com
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