Legal action has been taken against Toyota following a patent dispute between steel suppliers.

Nippon Steel in Japan has filed a temporary injunction against Toyota to stop the production and sale of vehicles fitted with electric motors, which the company alleges are manufactured using proprietary electromagnetic steel.

Chinese company Baosteel has also been targeted in the legal action, and supplied the steel used in Toyota’s electric motors.

“Toyota’s view is that such matters should be discussed between material manufacturers, and we have learned of this lawsuit with great regret,” a statement from the Japanese car giant read.

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Toyota says it went through a “careful process” to ensure there were no patent conflicts prior to entering a contractual agreement with Baosteel, and has since received written confirmation to that effect following the action by Nippon Steel.

“It is again with great regret that we have learned that Nippon Steel, which has supported the Japanese automobile industry and our company’s manufacturing for many years and is an important business partner of ours, [has] decided to file such a lawsuit against us as we are a material user,” Toyota said.

A spokesperson for Toyota Australia was unable to comment on any potential impact on the sale and supply of its vehicles to local buyers.

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