American EV upstart Canoo reportedly filed a 58-page lawsuit on December 22 in the US Central District Court of California against its former executives. Canoo claims that some of its former employees stole its trade secrets to form the new EV company Harbinger, as per Electrek.
Furthermore, the electric automaker claims that Harbinger founders violated employee separation agreements, stole intellectual property, and committed other malpractices for their own business gain.
Who’s Harbinger?
Harbinger is a Los Angeles-based EV startup founded in September. As the report suggests, it is established by former Canoo, Faraday Future, and QuantumScape execs. The following names are listed in the lawsuit along with the company itself:
· CEO John Harris
· CTO Phillip Weicker
· COO Will Eberts
· VP of structures and chassis Alexi Charbonneau
· Canoo’s former VP of corporate legal, securities, and global strategy Michael Fielkow
Lawsuit Filing
Business Insider reported the filing, indicating that Canoo claims Harbinger stole its EV platform technology (MPP).
“This is a case of corporate espionage by a group of serial grifters who infiltrated Canoo to steal its intellectual property (including its confidential information and trade secrets) and human capital.”
Lawsuit filing
Furthermore, Canoo alleges in the filing that its former execs who launched Harbinger have always planned to steal the MPP.
“As this lawsuit demonstrates, we take the protection of our IP seriously.”
Canoo spokesperson
Canoo also charges Harbinger with hiring from within its workforce, as some of its employees recently announced plans to join Harbinger on LinkedIn.
“This is not a case where a couple of employees left a company to work for a competitor. This is far worse. Using Canoo’s confidential information and trade secrets related to Canoo’s employees, including their skills and training, Harbinger strategically recruited at least 33 of Canoo’s employees to join Harbinger, making up approximately 66% of Harbinger’s total workforce.”
Canoo spokesperson
However, Harbinger is contending against the charges. It claims that the company has always conducted business with the highest integrity.
“Harbinger and its co-founders have always operated with the utmost integrity and have never engaged in any actions that would give rise to this meritless lawsuit. We are confident in our position and will vigorously defend ourselves against any baseless allegations brought forth by Canoo.”
Harbinger spokesperson
Nonetheless, Harbinger has been creating a stir since its debut. Gilbert Passin, a former vice president of manufacturing at Tesla, has been named chief production officer, among other notable hires and business agreements.
