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.
Over time, Tesla has sued fairly a number of firms and former staff for allegedly stealing commerce secrets and techniques, together with relating to battery manufacturing, Dojo, and extra.
Now, Tesla is including a brand new one to the record.
The corporate filed a lawsuit in California court docket as we speak 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 in every of its suppliers for gear 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 embrace 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 information, Matthews utilized Tesla’s confidential commerce secrets and techniques to a wide range 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 functions Matthews set into movement occasions that might lead (and in some instances have already led) to publication of sure Tesla confidential data relating to the dry-electrode manufacturing course of. Matthews by no means sought Tesla’s permission to file these functions, nor even disclosed their existence till Tesla found the functions by itself by discovering Tesla-proprietary secrets and techniques in revealed patent functions submitted by Matthews. Since discovering Matthews’ improper conduct, Tesla has been working to dam and/or delay publication of affected functions, and solely a subset of Tesla’s confidential data relating to dry-electrode manufacturing has revealed so far. 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 opponents, high-value know-how that might 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 opponents. This included Matthews trying to promote and, in some instances, truly promoting gear for dry-electrode battery manufacturing to Tesla opponents, the place stated gear embodied Tesla’s confidential commerce secrets and techniques. Such acts have been improper as a result of Tesla by no means licensed, and actually expressly proscribed, the sale or use of its confidential know-how to or for anybody aside from itself. Equally, Tesla by no means licensed, and actually expressly proscribed, any inspection or demonstration of any gear or machines embodying Tesla commerce secrets and techniques by or to any Tesla competitor. In consequence, 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 opponents, leading to direct and severe hurt to Tesla and its enterprise.
Tesla is in search of 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 benefit and we intend to vigorously defend the matter. Notably, the criticism vaguely references commerce secrets and techniques, however fails to establish even one commerce secret that Tesla purportedly disclosed to Matthews. We’re persevering with to judge this criticism and will pursue authorized treatments.
The truth is, 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’ invaluable 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 objective of buying its dry electrode know-how and integrating it into its new 4680 battery cell know-how.