Deltawing Suing Nissan for ZEOD RC and BladeGlider Design

When NissanNissanJapan, 1932 > present159 models
6957 photos
12 videos
announced the ZEOD RC racecar and the BladeGlider concept at the Tokyo Motor Show, their relationship to the Deltawing program was unambiguous. After all, Ben Bowlby who designed the Deltawing was helming the ZEOD RC project, and the car was confirmed as the Garage 56 entry in the 2014 24 Hours of Le Mans, as the Deltawing was in 2012. But it appears that there was a snag in the plan. Deltawing and its owner Don Panoz are suing Nissan and Bowlby for stealing the design. 

The lawsuit seeks to prevent Nissan from building delta or wing-shaped vehicles and asks for damages from Bowlby and Nissan for "theft of confidential and proprietary information, misappropriation of trade secrets, breach of contracts, unjust enrichment, fraud, and negligent misrepresentation.”

Deltawing's argument against Bowlby and Nissan is that Bowlby signed a non-competition contract while at Deltawing that gave the company the rights to his design. The fact that he moved to Nissan and created a similar looking car and that Nissan further evolved it for the BladeGlider concept violates Deltawing and its owners' intellectual property. Also, it claims that the creation of the ZEOD RC has prevented the Deltawing from racing at Le Mans.

According to Deltawing, Bowlby came up with the idea for the car while working for Chip Ganassi Racing's IndyCar Series team. Ganassi contacted Don Panoz, and the two of them to form the Deltawing company to develop the car. While he was there, all of Bowlby's ideas were owned by Deltawing as its intellectual property.

Deltawing is asking for a trial to decide whether Bowlby and Nissan actually infringed on its intellectual property. If it wins, then it is asking the court to stop development of the ZEOD RC, BladeGlider and any future delta-shaped vehicle from Nissan. It is also asking for payment for the damages.

The complaint was filed on November 22 with court of Jackson County, Georgia, in the United States. We will follow the story and report if more details emerge.

Source: Racer