⁍ Nikola Corporation’s NKLA.O founder Trevor Milton purchased the original design for the company’s flagship truck from a Croatia-based designer, the Financial Times reported.
⁍ Nikola One, the company’s flagship hydrogen-powered truck truck, is at the centre of a design patent infringements lawsuit that Nikola filed against Tesla Inc.
– A Utah-based hydrogen-powered truck company is suing Elon Musk’s Tesla, claiming the latter’s Semi electric heavy-duty truck is “substantially” similar to its design. Now, sources tell the Financial Times that founder Trevor Milton actually bought the original design for Tesla’s truck from a Croatia-based designer in 2015. “It is commonplace to license third party designs during vehicle development, and although early in the process Nikola purchased a license to Adriano Mudri’s designs, he was not part of the design team and his designs are materially different from the design invented by Nikola for the Nikola One,” Nikola said in a statement, per Reuters. Tesla denied the design patent infringement charges in a filing last week.
Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-nikola-truck/nikola-corps-founder-purchased-truck-designs-from-third-party-ft-idUSKBN26H138