Delta Wing Design Firm Suing Nissan Over BladeGlider EV
Early in November Nissan announced seemingly out of the blue that its “BladeGlider” EV
concept would be produced inside of three years, but the automaker is
being sued over alleged intellectual property rights to its design.
The suit was filed Nov. 22 in a Georgia Superior court by Delta Wing
Project 56 which is backed by millionaire entrepreneur Don Panoz, 78,
who has seen much success in pharmaceutical and automotive ventures.
It asks for a cease-and-desist order that would stop Nissan from
displaying, racing or selling cars with the BladeGlider’s design which
borrows heavily from the Delta Wing, a project Panoz’ company
originated.
Nissan helped finance his petrol-powered design which it has been
experimentally fielding with not a little success, including a
fourth-place finish with 300 horsepower that was won by a 450 horsepower
competitor at Petit Le Mans on the outskirts of Atlanta.
Panoz says he hopes to yet profit further by licensing the
aerodynamic, weight-saving design to automakers, and is concerned that
if Nissan is left unchecked, it may lapse into the public domain.
His suit names Darren Cox, director of Nissan’s global motorsports
program, and Ben Bowlby, one of the team leaders for the BladeGlider
project who’d been hired away by Nissan from Panoz.
The suit reportedly follows months of behind-the-scenes discussion and confrontation with Nissan.