Japanese electronics giant Sharp Corporation has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Tesla’s Japanese subsidiary, seeking an injunction to halt imports of some of the carmaker’s electric vehicles (EVs) into Japan, according to a report by Kyodo News citing ‘sources familiar with the matter’.

According to the sources, Sharp alleges in the lawsuit filed at a Tokyo court mobile communications equipment installed in some Tesla models infringes some of its own patents.

The models affected by the lawsuit include Model S and Model 3 passenger cars and the Model X SUV.

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Sharp, which assembles Apple products among its other activities, was acquired by Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision Industry – more widely known as Foxconn – in 2016 for US$3.8bn at a time when it was struggling with mounting losses. 

Local reports also suggested Sharp had been actively filing patent infringement cases in recent months including against US TV brand Vizio and Chinese smartphone maker OPPO.

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