Emirates Team New Zealand has filed its response to North Sails' US lawsuit, seeking an immediate dismissal of the case.
The Team says it has been left with no choice but to defend what it describes as a valid patent, its intellectual property, and a string of factually inaccurate accusations.
According to the statement, the lawsuit follows a breach of contract by North Sails, including breaches of confidentiality and of Team New Zealand's IP with other America's Cup competitors. Those matters were already subject to arbitration proceedings in New Zealand when North Sails filed its case in the US.
Team New Zealand calls the US lawsuit "a simple and baseless attempt to distract from the real issues of breach."
Central to both the motion to dismiss and the New Zealand arbitration is North Sails' own contractual acknowledgment, in the sail supply agreements for both the 37th and 38th America's Cups, that all Emirates Team New Zealand IP, including patents, in its sails and sail designs is exclusively the Team's.
Those clauses were negotiated and agreed between North Sails and Emirates Team New Zealand after the AC36 campaign, by which point North Sails had already been aware of the elastic luff sail design concept, and its patent application, for close to two years.
Team New Zealand says that until this latest legal action, North Sails had never raised ownership concerns or disputed that the Team was the owner and inventor of the Elastic Luff concept or the US patent, including during an unsuccessful Post Grant review.
Emirates Team New Zealand says it has a clear legal and moral right to enforce its rights. The Team remains disappointed by North Sails' recent actions, and hopes common sense will prevail.
