Caterham (formerly Team Lotus), its Chief Technology Officer Mike Gascoyne and Aerolab have been found liable for copyright infringement and using confidential information of Formula One team Force India at the London High Court.
Following the publication of Team Lotus wind tunnel model pictures in November 2009, Vijay Mallya's Force India lodged a complaint with the Criminal Court in Italy and subsequently commenced civil proceedings in the UK High Court, citing concerns in respect of Team Lotus, Aerolab and Gascoyne "illegally copying" its design intellectual property accessed from secure files held at Aerolab.
Gascoyne was Force India's Chief Technical Officer till November 2008 before being roped in by the then Team Lotus.
"The case was heard at the High Court, London during January 2012 with Mr Justice Arnold finding Team Lotus (now known as Caterham) and Aerolab liable for copyright infringement and using confidential information respectively. Some parts created using Force India confidential information were used on the Team Lotus race cars in the early part of the 2010 season," Force India said in a statement.
"The judgement will now be referred for the consideration of Formula One's governing body, the FIA, while the Italian criminal case against Gascoyne, Tony Fernandes and Jean Claude Migeot remains ongoing."
