Tesla and Rivian are set to head to court over a lawsuit filed by Tesla in 2020, alleging that Rivian stole trade secrets through the hiring of former Tesla employees. The lawsuit claims that these employees brought sensitive trade secret, confidential, and proprietary engineering information to Rivian. Tesla later expanded the lawsuit, specifying that Rivian was allegedly stealing core technology for its next-generation batteries.
The lawsuit has been ongoing, and a recent ruling by a state court judge tentatively denied the employees’ request for a summary adjudication ruling, which would have dismissed Tesla’s claim that the employees had signed agreements forbidding them from stealing proprietary information. However, the judge granted the employees’ request for a ruling on another claim by Tesla that the workers illegally accessed the company’s computers to copy and steal data.
The ruling paves the way for the lawsuit to move forward, allowing Tesla to continue its legal action against Rivian and the former employees involved. This legal battle is noteworthy, especially considering that Tesla and Rivian have subsequently partnered to adopt Tesla’s NACS connector, a charging standard.