Electric semi truck manufacturer Nikola has filed a lawsuit for $2 billion USD against Tesla for patent infringement.
Nikola announced its hydrogen-electric truck back in 2016 just over a year before Tesla unveiled its electric-powered semi truck. The lawsuit alleges that Tesla stole over three different design aspects that both trucks share.
Both trucks have a similar fuselage and windshield design, the mid-entry door location and the overall design of the truck.
“Tesla’s design has caused confusion among customers. The confusion has diverted sales from Nikola to Tesla. Further, any problems with the Tesla Semi will be attributed to the Nikola One, causing hart to the Nikola brand,” reads a statement from Nikola’s court filing.
Nikola also has a few examples in the filing that show pictures of the Nikola truck being used as a header image on various online publications.
“It’s patently obvious there is no merit to this lawsuit,” said a Tesla spokesperson tin a statement to Reuters.
Source: Reuters
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