Former Tesla Employees Face Trial Over Alleged Trade Secret Breach at Rivian

The legal battle between Tesla Inc. and Rivian Automotive Inc. intensifies as almost a dozen former Tesla employees, who joined Rivian, find themselves unable to avoid a trial over claims of breaching Tesla's confidentiality agreements.

Heading to Trial

In a recent development, Bloomberg reported that a state court judge tentatively denied the employees' request for a summary adjudication ruling, which sought to dismiss Tesla's claim that they had signed agreements and contracts prohibiting them from misappropriating proprietary information and sharing it with competitors, including Rivian.

However, the judge granted their request for a ruling on another claim by Tesla, which alleges that the employees unlawfully accessed Tesla's computer systems to copy and steal sensitive data. The lawsuit, initially filed in July 2020 and subsequently revised in 2021, makes a serious accusation against Rivian.

The legal battle centers around Rivian's hiring practices, with Tesla claiming that the upstart rival directly employed at least 70 of its former employees. Even more concerning, Tesla alleges that some of these former employees were "caught red-handed" engaging in industrial espionage by stealing vital technology related to Tesla's next-generation batteries.

Rivian's Response

In response to the accusations, CNBC reported that a Rivian spokesperson refuted the claims, stating that the lawsuit's allegations are groundless and contradictory to Rivian's principles and corporate policies. The spokesperson emphasized that the company has strict procedures in place to ensure that employees confirm they will not bring any intellectual property from previous employers into Rivian's systems.

As this legal battle unfolds, the outcome could have significant implications for both companies, impacting their ability to attract talent and maintain innovation in the competitive electric vehicle industry. Stay tuned for further developments in this high-stakes dispute.

In 2017, Tesla filed a lawsuit against a former employee who departed the company to co-found Aurora, an autonomous driving start-up. The former employee was allegedly involved with Tesla's automated driving program, and the lawsuit claimed that he had taken proprietary information with him to his new venture.

Tesla vs. Rivian

The rivalry between Rivian and Tesla has taken a legal turn, with Tesla claiming that 178 of Rivian's approximately 2,300 employees are former Tesla workers. These allegations form the basis of a lawsuit filed by Tesla, raising concerns about intellectual property breaches.

Rivian has emerged as one of the most formidable electric vehicle startups, and many experts consider it the closest challenger to Tesla's dominance in the EV market. What sets Rivian apart as a more serious contender in the increasingly competitive space is its strategic approach of following in Tesla's footsteps.

By adopting several key moves that contributed to Tesla's remarkable success in the EV sector, Electrek reported that Rivian has positioned itself as a formidable force. Rivian's emulation of Tesla's successful strategies underscores its commitment to competing at the highest level as the electric vehicle industry continues to grow and evolve.