What’s new: Faraday Future Intelligent Electric Inc., the cash-strapped California-based electric vehicle (EV) startup founded by disgraced Chinese tech tycoon Jia Yueting, said that it is suing former executive, Ding Lei, for alleged infringement of trade secrets.
The legal action, filed in the Intermediate People’s Court of Shenzhen, seeks monetary damages and demands that Human Horizons Holdings (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., an EV firm founded by Ding, cease infringing on Faraday’s trade secrets related to its sole model, the FF 91 SUV, according to a company statement on Monday.
The plaintiff also requests the court to order Human Horizons to stop using the allegedly stolen trade secrets for design, development, production and sales activities, according to the statement.
Human Horizons denied Faraday Future’s accusations, saying in a statement on Tuesday that its founder Ding did not infringe on trade secrets and that its mass-produced models “are either in-house developed or developed in partnerships with suppliers.”
The background: Faraday Future’s legal action could further weigh on Ding, who is struggling to save HiPhi, a premium EV brand under Human Horizons teetering on the brink of collapse amid a production halt.
Apart from being an executive at Faraday Future, Ding also joined Jia-founded automaker LeEco Inc. in September 2015 and held senior positions there. In March 2017, Ding announced his resignation from LeEco, citing health reasons.
An Limin contributed to this story.
Contact reporter Ding Yi (yiding@caixin.com) and editor Kelsey Cheng (kelseycheng@caixin.com)
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