Tesla is suing California's Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to reverse a ruling that banned the automaker from using the terms 'Autopilot' and 'Full Self-Driving' to sell cars, _CNBC_ reported. This follows a December decision by a California administrative law judge that forced Tesla to clean up its marketing language or risk a suspension of its sales license. Last week, the DMV determined Tesla had complied by renaming its driver assistance system 'Full Self-Driving (Supervised)', avoiding a sales suspension.

However, Tesla filed a complaint on February 13, alleging the DMV 'wrongfully and baselessly' labeled it a false advertiser. The company called the order 'factually wrong' and 'unconstitutional', demanding its reversal. The DMV argued Tesla's original terms implied cars were safe to drive without a human, but Tesla countered it never proved buyer confusion and that purchasing a Tesla required 'clear and repeated statements' the systems weren't fully autonomous.

Tesla's appeal reflects its core bet on autonomous vehicles, with CEO Elon Musk promising fully self-driving cars and robo-taxis. Despite a European sales decline, Tesla is testing automated vehicles in Austin. Last month, it lost a $243 million lawsuit verdict over a 2019 crash involving Autopilot, leading to the cancellation of its basic FSD tier on new vehicles and a subscription-only model for the advanced version.