New patents add another knot to the tangled relationship between the two companies

New patents published today by the US Patent and Trademark Office show that Faraday Future was responsible for at least some of the design of the LeSee, an all-electric car belonging to Chinese conglomerate LeEco. A BuzzFeed News report from December originally surfaced the idea that LeEco, which is a major investor in FF, was using the American startup’s resources to work on its own electric car under the “LeSee” brand, but both companies declined to comment on the relationship at the time.

The patent publications appear to have changed that approach, though. Reached for comment today, a representative for FF confirmed that the company’s employees were responsible for these two particular patents, and that LeEco used them in the development of its car.