Aerolab has hit back at claims it and the new Lotus team may be breaching Force India's intellectual property.

Switzerland's Motorsport Aktuell reported this week that Force India is concerned that the wind tunnel model of Lotus' 2010 car strongly resembles the Silverstone based team's current VJM-02.

When Force India stopped working at the Fondtech facility, a scale wind tunnel model was left behind.

The common denominator is Mike Gascoyne, Lotus' technical boss but formerly with Force India and now working with Aerolab/Fondtech on the Lotus F1 project.

Aerolab hit back at those reports, revealing that it is in fact pursuing Force India in the courts after "serious and persistent breaches of contract".

It is believed that Force India has outstanding debts with Aerolab.

"These rumors are designed only to tarnish the company's reputation and professionalism and to divert attention away from the facts," said Aerolab's Jean-Claude Migeot.