Tesla is suing Matthews Worldwide, a former equipment provider, for “stealing commerce secrets and techniques” associated to its battery manufacturing.
Matthews claims that it’s Tesla who’s attempting to steal its know-how.
Through the years, Tesla has sued fairly just a few firms and former workers for allegedly stealing commerce secrets and techniques, together with concerning battery manufacturing, Dojo, and extra.
Now, Tesla is including a brand new one to the record.
The corporate filed a lawsuit in California courtroom at the moment towards Matthews Worldwide, which it describes as a provider of “Tesla’s proprietary dry-electrode battery manufacturing know-how”, for streaming its commerce secrets and techniques.
Tesla says that it chosen Matthews in 2019 to be “one among its suppliers for tools that Tesla used to refine its dry-electrode battery manufacturing and to place it into mass-production.” The automaker says that the provider agreed to a confidentiality settlement and to not share its know-how with different shoppers.
The automaker claims Matthews stole its commerce secrets and techniques in two methods: submitting for patents that embody Tesla know-how and promoting its know-how to different shoppers.
Tesla wrote within the lawsuit about Matthews infringing with its patents:
With out Tesla’s data, Matthews utilized Tesla’s confidential commerce secrets and techniques to quite a lot of impermissible functions, and in so doing visited extraordinary hurt on Tesla. First, Matthews improperly included Tesla’s confidential commerce secrets and techniques into patent filings. By so doing, Matthews unambiguously tried to say for itself each possession and inventorship of Tesla’s confidential commerce secrets and techniques. Nonetheless additional, by submitting these purposes Matthews set into movement occasions that would lead (and in some instances have already led) to publication of sure Tesla confidential info concerning the dry-electrode manufacturing course of. Matthews by no means sought Tesla’s permission to file these purposes, nor even disclosed their existence till Tesla found the purposes by itself by discovering Tesla-proprietary secrets and techniques in printed patent purposes submitted by Matthews. Since discovering Matthews’ improper conduct, Tesla has been working to dam and/or delay publication of affected purposes, and solely a subset of Tesla’s confidential info concerning dry-electrode manufacturing has printed up to now. Regardless, the results of Matthews’ improper conduct has been each to disclaim Tesla patent rights to its personal know-how and, simply as troubling, to share with the general public, together with Tesla’s rivals, high-value know-how that will not in any other case have been accessible, resulting in direct and severe hurt to Tesla and its enterprise.
Within the lawsuit, Tesla added about Matthews promoting its tech to different unnamed firms:
Second, Matthews disclosed Tesla’s confidential commerce secrets and techniques to different firms, together with Tesla rivals. This included Matthews making an attempt to promote and, in some instances, really promoting tools for dry-electrode battery manufacturing to Tesla rivals, the place mentioned tools embodied Tesla’s confidential commerce secrets and techniques. Such acts have been improper as a result of Tesla by no means approved, and in reality expressly proscribed, the sale or use of its confidential know-how to or for anybody apart from itself. Equally, Tesla by no means approved, and in reality expressly proscribed, any inspection or demonstration of any tools or machines embodying Tesla commerce secrets and techniques by or to any Tesla competitor. Consequently, sure of Tesla’s high-value confidential know-how for dry electrode manufacturing has been conveyed, or is imminently about to be conveyed by Matthews, with out authorization to Tesla’s direct rivals, leading to direct and severe hurt to Tesla and its enterprise.
Tesla is looking for damages and at present estimates the damages “conservatively” at $1 billion.
Matthews is denying Tesla’s claims:
The claims said on this threadbare criticism are completely with out advantage and we intend to vigorously defend the matter. Notably, the criticism vaguely references commerce secrets and techniques, however fails to determine even one commerce secret that Tesla purportedly disclosed to Matthews. We’re persevering with to judge this criticism and should pursue authorized cures.
In reality, the corporate claims that Tesla is the one attempting to steal its dry electrode know-how:
Opposite to the allegations within the criticism, Tesla’s lawsuit is solely a brand new tactic of their ongoing efforts to bully Matthews and improperly take Matthews’ helpful mental property. Moreover, Tesla’s criticism makes an attempt to limit us from providing our revolutionary options to others, stopping the market from considerably benefiting from the financial savings related to our dry battery electrode (“DBE”) options, and thus interfering with Matthews’ capacity to comprehend the worth of our mental property.
Tesla purchased Maxwell Applied sciences in 2019 with the primary aim of buying its dry electrode know-how and integrating it into its new 4680 battery cell know-how.
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