By Sam Boughedda
Investing.com — On Tuesday, battery and hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle firm Nikola Corp (NASDAQ:NKLA) was given the all-clear to continue its $2 billion patent lawsuit against Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA).
Shares of Nikola rose 4.7%, and shares of Tesla fell 0.4%.
Despite a federal judge shelving the three-year old lawsuit earlier this month due to the companies not responding to court orders, the case won't be dismissed. However, it will still "remain administratively closed pending further order," Judge James Donato said in a court order.
"Nikola’s ostensible reasons for not responding to the court’s orders are not particularly compelling. The case will not be dismissed at this time for failure to prosecute, but that may change if Nikola does not move this case forward to resolution in an efficient and timely manner," said the judge.
Donato has set a technology tutorial for January 13, 2022, where the companies will take the court through the technologies in question, and a claim construction hearing on January 27, 2022, when it will hear about Nikola's claims regarding the patent infringements.
The lawsuit was first filed by Nikola in 2018, alleging that Tesla’s semi-truck infringes on several of its design patents.