On March 5th, in response to being sued by FF, Ding Lei, the founder of Chinese Express/Gaohe Automobile, issued a statement on Gaohe Automobile Weibo, stating that "I am shocked and angry about Jia Yueting's remarks on my verified Weibo account on March 5th, 2024, targeting me and Chinese Express/Gaohe Automobile for suspected theft and infringement of F's intellectual property rights, technical data, and trade secrets."
Ding Lei stated in his statement that firstly, during his tenure at LeEco and after his departure, he has never engaged in any infringement of LeEco and FF Company's trade secrets and intellectual property rights.
Secondly, the development of all Gaohe X/Z/Y models has been independently completed by Chinese Express from scratch. Jia Yueting's false accusations are defamation and slander against Ding Lei himself and all employees of Chinese Express/Gaohe Automobile. The completion of the research and development, mass production, and launch of the first model by Chinese Express/Gaohe Automobile within 38 months is the result of the full efforts of all employees of Chinese Express, as well as the full support of all suppliers and partners. It is also the inevitable result of the rapid development and accumulation of the Chinese automotive industry in the past 40 years.
Thirdly, Chinese Express/Gaohe Automobile and Ding Lei himself have never engaged in any defamation of FF Company, other industry partners, or Jia Yueting to the media, investors, or users. Chinese Express has always held a respectful attitude towards all automobile companies.
Fourthly, Jia Yueting disregarded facts and maliciously slandered himself, deliberately smearing, smearing, and cracking down on himself and Chinese Express/Gaohe Automobile using words such as "plagiarism", "theft", "crime", and "shame". Ding Lei and Chinese Express/Gaohe Automobile will file a lawsuit against Jia Yueting for infringement of reputation rights in court to clarify the facts and clarify the situation.
On the afternoon of March 5th, Gaohe Automobile also issued a statement stating that there was no plagiarism or infringement of FF Company's trade secrets and intellectual property rights by Chinese Express and its founder Ding Lei, nor was there any unfair competition.
This morning, FF Weibo announced that FF and its Chinese subsidiaries have filed a lawsuit against former FF executive and founder of Chinese Express, Ding Lei (along with other affiliated companies), for infringing on trade secrets and unfair competition.
In the afternoon, Jia Yueting posted on social media saying, "After a long period of investigation, evidence collection, and preparation, FF officially filed a lawsuit today against Ding Lei and Gao He Automobile for suspected illegal or even criminal acts of stealing and infringing on FF's intellectual property, technical data, and commercial secrets."