Superior Court Judge Peter Manoukian reasoned in a Sept. 28 ruling that it’s efficient to broaden the case at this juncture — while making clear he’s not blessing the merits of Tesla’s claims.
“Here, defendants contend that Tesla has not alleged plausible facts to support its contention that defendants acquired confidential battery information,” he wrote. “That contention has some appeal to it.”
Rivian says Tesla dragged its feet since initially filing suit in July 2020 and hasn’t sufficiently specified the trade secrets it claimed were stolen, nor how the data at issue is distinct from what’s already public knowledge.
“For several of its trade secrets it has provided so little detail that Rivian is unable to ascertain what Tesla is claiming as its intellectual property, let alone whether what it is claiming is or could be secret,” Rivian said in a filing.
The case is Tesla Inc. v. Rivian Automotive Inc., 20CV368472, California Superior Court, Santa Clara County (San Jose).
