Lori A. Medley, Senior Counsel, in the Litigation & Business Disputes Practice, in the firm’s New York office, authored an article in IP Litigator, titled “Lamborghini Accused of Driving Away with Former Partner’s Trade Secrets.”
Following is an excerpt (see below to download the full version in PDF format):
Prema Engineering S.r.l. (“Prema Engineering”) has accused automaker Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. and Automobili Lamborghini America, LLC (collectively, “Lamborghini”) of stealing Prema Engineering’s intellectual property and trade secrets it supplies to Hypercars used in endurance racing. In Prema Engineering S.r.l. v. Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A., filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, Austin Division, Prema Engineering alleges that in 2024, Lamborghini, while in a racing partnership with Prema Engineering and Iron Lynx racing team, stole Prema Engineering’s high-tech trade secret-protected steering wheel software in order to use it in Lamborghini’s new racing partnership with Riley Motorsports, a competitor of Prema Engineering and Iron Lynx.
Prema Engineering alleges that Lamborghini entered into a partnership with the Iron Lynx racing team, pursuant to which Lamborghini sold two Lamborghini-manufactured Hypercars to the Iron Lynx team and agreed to provide spare parts and other supply-related assistance for the Hypercars. Under the partnership, Prema Engineering was the exclusive provider of all servicing, maintenance, engineering and technical support to the Iron Lynx racing team.
The steering wheel software at the center of the action involves a “proprietary package of computer code developed by engineers and technicians at Prema Engineering,” referred to as steering wheel setups (“Setups”), that Prema Engineering “developed and customized” using its team’s forty years of experience in formula and endurance racing. Per the Complaint, the “Setups are customized for each racetrack and race session, and they enable the collection and processing of data collected from the Hypercars while they are running.” The Setups are also used to customize the steering wheel to the specific driver to implement during a race, “the team’s strategies and maximize the Hypercar’s performance.”
Prema Engineering contends it took steps to secure the confidentiality of its Setup software, including maintaining possession of both the steering wheels containing the Setup software and the Iron Lynx Hypercars. Prema Engineering also alleges it repeatedly sent written reminders to Lamborghini that the Setup software was “proprietary to Prema Engineering” and Lamborghini did not have permission to use the Setup software outside of specific testing and racing activities.
