Tesla Files Lawsuit Against Matthews International for Alleged Trade Secret Theft
TapTechNews June 18 - Tesla has filed a lawsuit against its former supplier, Matthews International, alleging that the company stole its trade secrets and tried to patent confidential information related to electric vehicle batteries. Matthews, on the other hand, refuted Tesla's claims as 'baseless'.
Tesla filed the lawsuit against Matthews in a Northern California federal court on Friday. Although neither company's headquarters is in California, the complaint alleges that Matthews, which is based in Pennsylvania, frequently sent employees to California to meet with Tesla staffers. Tesla operates a large factory near Fremont, San Francisco.
In 2019, Matthews began providing Tesla with equipment to improve its dry electrode manufacturing process, with the goal of creating lighter batteries with solid-state storage capabilities. As part of the agreement, Matthews agreed to keep confidential information confidential.
However, Matthews has betrayed this trust, Tesla said in the complaint. Without Tesla's permission, Matthews has used Tesla's confidential trade secrets for a variety of illegal purposes, causing tremendous losses to Tesla.
Tesla stated that Matthews incorporated the stolen trade secrets into patent applications and further alleged that the company has blatantly tried to portray itself as the owner and inventor of Tesla's technology. According to the complaint, Tesla only discovered these patent applications after noticing its confidential information in the public patent applications submitted by Matthews.
But Tesla alleges that Matthews' actions didn't stop there. The company is also suspected of selling Tesla equipment used for dry electrode manufacturing to competitors. Tesla said it never authorized such sales, which apparently led its competitors to obtain its technology.
In the lawsuit, Tesla claims that due to the alleged improper behavior of Matthews, the company should receive at least $1 billion (TapTechNews note: currently about 7.265 billion Chinese yuan) in damages.
Matthews said in a statement that it plans to vigorously defend this matter. The company added that Tesla's lawsuit is just a new tactic in their ongoing effort to intimidate Matthews and unjustly acquire Matthews' valuable intellectual property.