Tesla sues ex-supplier Matthews over EV battery trade secrets

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Tesla sues Matthews

(Reuters) – Tesla filed a lawsuit in California federal court against its former supplier Matthews International. The lawsuit alleges that Matthews stole trade secrets regarding Tesla’s battery-manufacturing process and shared them with competitors.

The lawsuit, filed on Friday in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, said Matthews owes damages that Tesla “conservatively estimates will exceed $1 billion” for misusing company trade secrets related to dry electrode battery manufacturing technology.

Spokespeople for Matthews and attorneys and spokespeople for Tesla did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Monday.

Pittsburgh-based Matthews began supplying Tesla with manufacturing machinery in 2019, according to the complaint. Tesla said it shared secrets with Matthews related to dry-electrode coating, which the carmaker has said can dramatically reduce the size, cost, energy consumption and production cycle time of battery manufacturing plants while boosting the energy density and power of battery cells.

The lawsuit said Matthews shared Tesla’s innovations with unnamed competitors by selling “machines and other technologies embodying Tesla’s trade secrets.” It also said Matthews claimed Tesla’s inventions as its own in patent filings that have revealed confidential Tesla information.

Tesla asked the court to block Matthews from misusing its trade secrets and hand over its patent applications in addition to requesting monetary damages.

Tesla sues Matthews for allegedly breaching contractual obligations by unlawfully obtaining and using confidential information critical to their battery innovations. This legal action highlights Tesla’s firm stance on protecting its intellectual property in the competitive electric vehicle sector.
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