Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) is being sued by the Utah-based hybrid truck design company Nikola Motors (private) for alleged design patent infringement.
Nikola filed the lawsuit on Tuesday and claimed that Tesla copied several design patents, for the new all-electric Tesla Semi, that Nikola had received from the US Patent and Trademark Office between February and April 2018.
The lawsuit, which calls for $2 billion in damages, says that Tesla used designs of Nikola’s mid-entry door, wrap windshield, side cladding, fender and fuselage for the Tesla Semi.
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Nikola also alleges that Tesla has copied the overall design of its Nikola One, a hybrid semi-truck.
The Nikola One was debuted in December of 2016, while Tesla debuted its all-electric semi in November of 2017.
According to Reuters, a representative for Tesla said in an email that “it’s patently obvious there is no merit to this lawsuit.”
Nikola also alleges that Aaron Hoyos, a recruiter for Tesla, attempted to poach the company’s chief engineer a few months after Nikola had published its designs, according to a recent Fortune article.
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The Utah-based company has also stated that they reached out to Tesla, asking if they could push back the unveiling of the Tesla Semi until the patent infringement issue was resolved, but Tesla did not respond.
Tesla will also be reporting results for the first quarter of 2018 on Wednesday after the market has closed.
The share value of Tesla rose just over one percent on Wednesday to just above $303.00, with a high of $306.85 and a low of $297.78.
The company ended up closing at $301.15.
Comparatively, the company closed at a share value of $299.92 on Tuesday.
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