The lawsuit, filed on Friday in the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida, alleges that Telit made misleading claims about the security of Quectel's Internet of Things (IoT) modules. According to the complaint, Telit claimed the devices could be manipulated by the Chinese government.
Quectel is a major supplier of IoT modules, while Florida-based Telit, which operates as Telit Cinterion, is one of its competitors.
In its complaint, Quectel accused Telit of exploiting concerns about Chinese technology companies instead of competing on the basis of its products.
Telit IoT Solutions is named as the defendant in the case. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The dispute follows the US Department of Defense's decision in January to add Quectel to a list of companies it alleges work with China's military. Quectel denied the allegations and sued the Pentagon in May, arguing that the designation was causing serious financial damage. That case is still ongoing.
The US Department of Defense is prohibited from purchasing goods, services or technology from companies included on the list.
In its latest lawsuit, Quectel has accused Telit of commercial disparagement, false advertising, cybersquatting, unfair competition and deceptive trade practices.
The complaint also alleges that a Telit employee registered the domain name quectel.us and used it to redirect visitors to a Wikipedia page containing negative information about Quectel.
Quectel further argued that its IoT modules sold in the United States cannot be remotely controlled by the company, nor can they send or receive data remotely or receive firmware updates over the air.
The lawsuit alleges that Telit promoted claims suggesting otherwise while marketing itself to customers as a safer Western alternative.
