Essential, the smartphone start-up created by Android pioneer Andy Rubin, is facing a lawsuit from a company looking to introduce a new form of connector intended to offer high-speed data transfer between devices.

According to Reuters, court filings revealed Essential had considered working with Keyssa as a component supplier (including ten months of groundwork), but instead opted to work with a rival, called SiBEAM (owned by Lattice Semiconductor).

Keyssa said despite Essential’s choice of a rival product, the final smartphone design builds on a number of techniques it developed, from antenna designs to testing phones at manufacture.

Attempts to resolve the issue “have not been successful,” Keyssa told Reuters.

One of the key features of Essential Phone is its magnetic connector, which enables accessories to be snapped on to the back. At launch, this is being used to support a 360-degree camera.

The legal action will be something of an unwelcome distraction for Essential, coming shortly after availability of its first device.