Prema Engineering S.r.l. (“Prema Engineering”) has accused automaker Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. and Automobili Lamborghini America, LLC (collectively, “Lamborghini”) of stealing Prema Engineering’s intellectual property and trade secrets it supplies to Hypercars used in endurance racing.
In Prema Engineering S.r.l. v. Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A., filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, Austin Division, Prema Engineering alleges that in 2024, Lamborghini, while in a racing partnership with Prema Engineering and Iron Lynx racing team, stole Prema Engineering’s high-tech trade secret-protected steering wheel software in order to use it in Lamborghini’s new racing partnership with Riley Motorsports, a competitor of Prema Engineering and Iron Lynx.
Prema Engineering alleges that Lamborghini entered into a partnership with the Iron Lynx racing team, pursuant to which Lamborghini sold two Lamborghini-manufactured Hypercars to the Iron Lynx team and agreed to provide spare parts and other supply-related assistance for the Hypercars. Under the partnership, Prema Engineering was the exclusive provider of all servicing, maintenance, engineering and technical support to the Iron Lynx racing team.
The steering wheel software at the center of the action involves a “proprietary package of computer code developed by engineers and technicians at Prema Engineering,” referred to as steering wheel setups (“Setups”), that Prema Engineering “developed and customized” using its team’s forty years of experience in formula and endurance racing. Per the Complaint, the “Setups are customized for each racetrack and race session, and they enable the collection and processing of data collected from the Hypercars while they are running.” The Setups are also used to customize the steering wheel to the specific driver to implement during a race “the team’s strategies and maximize the Hypercar’s performance.”
Prema Engineering contends it took steps to secure the confidentiality of its Setup software, including maintaining possession of both the steering wheels containing the Setup software and the Iron Lynx Hypercars. Prema Engineering also alleges it repeatedly sent written reminders to Lamborghini that the Setup software was “proprietary to Prema Engineering” and Lamborghini did not have permission to use the Setup software outside of specific testing and racing activities.
As set forth in greater detail in the Complaint, Prema Engineering alleges that, during the 2024 racing season, Lamborghini took advantage of a specific time when Lamborghini was given access to a Hypercar installed with a steering wheel containing Prema Engineering’s Setup to copy the Setup for Lamborghini’s own use. Prema Engineering claims it discovered Lamborghini’s theft of its proprietary Setup software after Lamborghini returned to Prema Engineering a simulator steering wheel it had borrowed for racing simulator testing. The borrowed simulator steering wheel was provided to Lamborghini without any software. The steering wheel’s log data showed the Setup was used a number of times during a two-week period that the steering wheel had been in Lamborghini’s possession. However, when Lamborghini returned the simulator steering wheel, Prema Engineering discovered that the simulator steering wheel contained a copy of its Setup software from a prior testing event. Prema Engineering states it never provided this Setup to Lamborghini and never gave Lamborghini permissions to access or use copies of any of its Setups.
Prema Engineering also alleges that Lamborghini misappropriated at least four other Setups it had been granted access to over the course of the 2024 season. Prema Engineering states that it discovered the theft of these Setups during the 2025 racing season when Prema Engineering identified from views of Lamborghini’s Hypercar steering wheel being used with Riley Motorsports other features of Prema Engineering’s Setups that are contained within the four allegedly stolen Setups. Prema Engineering maintains that at no point did Lamborghini have permission to download, use or disclose its proprietary software.
Prema further alleges that Lamborghini used its stolen Setup software to aid in developing a new racing partnership with Riley Motorsports for the 2025 racing season. The Complaint alleges that by using the information from Prema Engineering’s software, Lamborghini and Riley Motorsports were able to “bypass critical engineering and testing phases that would otherwise take years to complete, granting them an unfair competitive advantage.”
Prema Engineering's Complaint alleges Lamborghini's misconduct amounted to violations of the Defend Trade Secrets Act, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, the Copyright Act, the Texas Uniform Trade Secrets Act, and the Texas Harmful Access by Computer Act.
Prema Engineering’s action against Lamborghini highlights the importance of high-tech industries protecting their trade secrets from theft or inadvertent disclosure. As this case demonstrates, in today’s world a high-tech company’s internal years of knowledge, experience and proprietary software are no longer confined to its internal engineering departments. Companies that seek to utilize their proprietary software in partnership with other high-tech products must take appropriate precautions to safeguard their trade secrets, such as clearly setting forth in written agreements the terms and conditions under which the proprietary software can be utilized and shared. When feasible, companies should also set up additional internal controls that would alert the company that the security of its intellectual property has been breached.
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