Tesla Door-Panel Maker Preemptively Sues Faurecia Over Patent

A German maker of tailor-made interiors for premium vehicles filed a lawsuit seeking a Virginia federal court’s judgment that a door panel it makes for Tesla’s Model Y doesn’t infringe a patent held by a unit of Faurecia SE.

Lisa Dräxlmaier GmbH says it was “unaware of the very existence” of the patent until last December, when Faurecia Interieur Industrie sent its Draexlmaier Automotive of America LLC unit a letter alleging the manufacture and sale of a door panel used in Tesla Inc.’s Model Y infringes the patent, according to a complaint filed Wednesday in the US District ...