Tesla's lawsuit against Fisker goes to arbitration
Back in April, Tesla filed a lawsuit against Fisker Automotive for allegedly stealing insider information having to do with the production of an electric vehicle. You may recall that Henrik Fisker was hired to style the Tesla Whitestar sedan, though his designs were ultimately rejected. About a month later, word spread that Fisker had asked to have the lawsuit enter arbitration, and a hearing was set for June 11. Fast forward to today, and the hearing apparently took place as planned and court documents show that Fisker's request for arbitration was granted.
Interestingly, those documents also reveal that the deal between Tesla and Fisker had a clause requiring the arbitration of any disagreements in a specific court. It appears that Tesla Motors went outside those terms by suing Fisker in a different court than was initially agreed upon. Not surprisingly, Henrik Fisker is "extremely pleased" with this outcome. Regardless of how things proceed between the two companies from this point forward, we can be hopeful that each company is able to bring a desirable and suitably green vehicle to market. Thanks for the tip, Doug!
[Source: CNET]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
jake 3:29AM (6/13/2008)
Don't know why Tesla didn't follow the arbitration clause now that it is clear the contract had one, makes me worry about the competence of their legal department. Anyways arbitration isn't a bad thing for both sides b/c it allows for this issue to be settled much quicker.
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Doug 10:49AM (6/13/2008)
From Autoweek:
"An arbitrator could be appointed by the end of next week, with a decision coming within three months, a Fisker lawyer said."
http://www.autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080613/FREE/407875759/1065
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