Court Rejects VW Lawsuit vs. GM

1 November 1996

The ASSOCIATED PRESS reports that on Wednesday, 30 October, a German court has rejected Volkswagen's lawsuit filed in May accusing General Motors Corporation of defamation becuase GM alledged that VW stole industry trade secrets, in what VW contends is ``a continuing, systematic campaign for three years to damage Volkswagen, its divisions and its workers.''

This was VW's second legal setback in as many weeks in the rivalry between itself and GM. On October 16, a federal judge in Detroit refused to dismiss a GM lawsuit filed in March accusing Volkswagen and Jose Ignacio Lopez, formerly in charge of worldwide purchasing at GM, of conspiring to steal trade secrets. The companies have been fighting since 1993, when Lopez left GM and took 12 executives with him to Volkswagen.

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