Trade secret theft leads to business litigation with Tesla | Michael L. Feinstein, P.A.
It was recently reported that Tesla has filed suit in relation to the alleged theft of the company's trade secrets and the poaching of its former employees. Apparently, Zoox, a competing company, has hired over 100 former Tesla workers. Tesla believes that other former employees have been poaching the workers to join the competition, which reportedly violates contracts prohibiting the poaching of former Tesla workers within the first year of their leaving the company.
Additionally, the company claims that four former employees sent confidential company information to their personal email accounts and then provided that information to their new employer. Tesla believes that Zoox was able to jump years ahead on various areas of operations due to the trade secrets the company was provided by the former Tesla employees. Zoox did not respond to a request for comment for the report.
Realistically, competitors can take steps that will allow them to get ahead in a certain industry. However, when those steps involve misappropriating protected information, business litigation may be the result. Florida company owners who believe that their intellectual property has been infringed upon or otherwise violated may want to discuss their legal options with their legal counsel.