Rivian Fights Back, Wants Tesla’s Lawsuit Dismissed
Tesla filed a lawsuit against Rivian late last month for allegedly poaching employees and encouraging them to steal trade secrets before leaving Tesla.
Naturally, Rivian was quick to deny these allegations, but now the EV startup is fighting back, asking a judge in the California Superior Court in Santa Clara to dismiss the lawsuit.
- Also: Watch: Rivian R1T Shows Off Unique Off-road Potential
- Also: Tesla Sues Rivian for Stealing Employees and Trade Secrets
According to Rivian, Tesla has made inaccurate claims and merely wants to damage its reputation.
In its filing, Rivian insists it has "rigorous policies and procedures to make sure it does not obtain confidential information from other companies when on-boarding employees."
Moreover, Rivian states that none of the alleged trade secrets Tesla referred to are in its possession or in any of its systems. Simply put, Tesla is speculating (about intellectual property theft) and has no legal ground to sue.
Rivian calls this an "improper and malicious attempt to slow" its industry momentum and hurt its brand just months before the market release of its first models.
As reported a couple of weeks ago, deliveries of the Rivian R1T electric pickup and R1S electric SUV have been pushed back to June and August of 2021, respectively.
According to various sources, the former is believed to have generated anywhere between 30,000 and 50,000 pre-orders so far (in exchange of a $1,000 refundable deposit). Meanwhile, Tesla claims to have received over 600,000 pre-orders for its Cybertruck (with a $100 non-refundable deposit).
