Uber’s Trade Secret Trial Gets Delayed Due To Possible Cover-Up
In February, self-driving car company Waymo filed an explosive complaint against Uber Technologies, alleging that Uber stole more than 14,000 files from the Alphabet Inc.-owned Waymo databases, violating both federal and state trade secrets laws, as well as patent infringement laws. Today, U.S. District Judge William Alsup granted Waymo’s request to delay the impending trial due to the allegation that Uber concealed information that was supposed to be revealed in the discovery period of the case.
Waymo’s request to delay the trial alleges that Uber withheld a letter sent from the lawyer of Richard Jacobs, former Uber security analyst to Angela Padilla, Uber’s assistant general counsel. This letter describes the activity Uber’s market analytics group as focused on acquiring secrets of trade and intelligence gathering against competitors. While Uber claims that the market analytics group was meant to protect Uber from being sued by competitors, Waymo believes that the evidence is indicative of Uber’s trade-stealing tactics and can lend an explanation to why Waymo’s 14,000 allegedly stolen files were not found in Uber’s servers, according to Axios.
Waymo’s 28-page complaint accuses Anthony Levandowski, the head of Uber’s self-driving fleet, of stealing important Waymo files. As it turns out, Levandowski previously worked for Waymo’s self-driving branch and was one of the original engineers of Google’s self-driving car, Bloomberg reports. Alphabet Inc’s Waymo alleges that shortly before his resignation, Levandowski downloaded proprietary information from Waymo by installing specialized software into his company-issued laptop. In fact, Waymo’s complaint alleges that it was not aware of any of these activities until one of its vendors inadvertently copied the company on an email that contained schematics of Uber’s LiDAR (light detection and ranging) circuit boards. Upon receiving these drawings, Waymo noticed significant similarities between its own proprietary technology and Uber’s design. As a result, they filed suit in a California federal court.
Waymo estimates that the damages of this breach may come up to $1.9 billion and seeks to halt Uber’s self-driving program as they allege that it uses patented Waymo technology. While Uber denies both the theft of trade secrets and the damages accrued by Waymo, the company has fired Levandowski from its autonomous car development wing. According to Uber, Levandowski’s firing comes as a result of his lack of cooperation in Uber’s ongoing internal investigation into this issue by failing to meet various deadlines and requests.
While Uber’s market analytics letter remains sealed by the court, there is a clear connection between Anthony Levandowski’s alleged breach and the sensor work described in the letter. Uber maintains the position that even if Levandowski stole trade secrets from Waymo, they were not incorporated into its own self-driving car design. Despite this, the fact that they withheld such an important letter from both the court and Waymo’s attorneys will be enough to delay the case and allow Waymo to prepare further before trial.
“I can no longer trust the words of the lawyers for Uber in this case,” Judge William Alsup said (via the New York Times), clearly vexed by Uber’s actions in this case. “If even half of what is in that letter is true, it would be an injustice for Waymo to go to trial.”
The trial was previously scheduled to begin on December 4, but after these revelations, the Judge Alsup will set a new date to give Waymo time to examine the new evidence.
