Federal prosecutors accuse Klaus Pflugbeil of conspiring to profit from technology his former employer, Canada’s Hibar Systems, developed that dramatically speeds up battery manufacturing. Tesla bought Hibar in 2019 and began restricting sales of Hibar’s precision pumps; the complaint against Pflugbeil and co-accused Yilong Shao says they went into business selling their own versions of Hibar devices and parts using improperly obtained IP. (The Logic)

Talking point: The pair’s new company, Hife Systems, has openly sold “Hibar-style” equipment and parts it describes as “100% identical,” through operations in Canada, China, Germany and Brazil. Pflugbeil was Hibar’s chief representative in China from about 2007 to 2009 and lives there. U.S. authorities say they lured Pflugbeil to New York on Monday by pretending to be customers wanting to set up a battery assembly line.