California's Department of Motor Vehicles could temporarily halt sales of Tesla vehicles in the state. This possibility arises after a judge ruled against the company for making misleading claims about its Autopilot and Full Self-Driving features.

Based on the decision, the DMV is giving Tesla 60 days to take action on how it describes its Autopilot and Full Self-Driving features to consumers. 

"If Tesla fails to address the issue, after 60 days it will be subject to the 30-day suspension of its dealer license," the DMV said in a news release.

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That suspension would prevent Tesla from selling vehicles in the state for those 30 days. The DMV filed its action to suspend Tesla in the state in July, but it was the result of several years of complaints from the department about Tesla's advertising practices. 

Tesla has since added "(Supervised)" to its Full Self-Driving description and homepage.  

The DMV blocked a judge's recommendation that Tesla also face a suspension of its manufacturing license in the state and issued a permanent stay for that penalty.

A representative for Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.  

Tesla's descriptions of its Autopilot and Full Self-Driving have been controversial and are also the subject of a class-action lawsuit. At issue is whether Tesla's marketing of the features implies that they require no driver supervision or action. Some lawsuits have said that this type of marketing has led to accidents involving drivers who placed too much trust in Tesla's technology. 

Meanwhile, Tesla has been working to expand the self-driving feature to other countries where it sells vehicles. 

Is this just a Tesla fight?

Despite its legal fights and a slowdown in sales, Tesla remains the world's largest and most high-profile maker of electric vehicles. And while that also makes it the biggest target for regulation and legal challenges, the debate over the terminology around self-driving vehicles doesn't end with Tesla.

"Autonomy terminology shapes public expectations, and imprecise language can blur the line between driver-assistance and truly autonomous systems," said Brian Moore, chief policy officer at Bot Auto, a Texas-based autonomous trucking company. "When terms imply full capability but still rely on human supervision, it creates confusion."

Moore said that the industry of vehicles with autonomous features, which are also human-supervised, as well as those that are fully automated, needs transparency, accountability, and clear language about what these vehicles can and can't do.

The DMV's ruling, he said, is a positive step toward establishing some of that. 

"California's action shows regulators are paying closer attention to how autonomous systems are presented to the public, and that focus on transparency is healthy for the industry," Moore said.