The lawsuit that Waymo/Google/Alphabet filed against Uber last year—alleging the theft of trade secrets relating to the company’s LiDAR tech for use in self-driving vehicles—has now ended, following a settlement.
Uber execs have reportedly agreed to pay Waymo US$245 million (via shares of its stock) in order to bring the lawsuit to a close—with the announcement coming just before the fifth day of testimony was set to begin on Friday, February 9, in San Francisco.
Uber has also agreed not to incorporate Waymo’s confidential information into its hardware and software, though Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi writes in a statement that he doesn’t believe his company used any of Waymo’s trade secrets in the first place.
A source familiar with the matter tells CNBC that Uber approached Waymo with a settlement offer within a week before the trial started.
The case started in February 2017 when Waymo accused Uber of using at least eight Waymo trade secrets in its self-driving cars. Waymo said that when Uber acquired the start-up Otto, founded by star Google engineer Anthony Levandowski, in late 2016, Levandowski brought some 14,000 Google files with him, some of which contained Waymo trade secrets. Uber rebutted that its self-driving sensor designs were unique and that Levandowski’s actions were unrelated to his work at Uber.
Featured News
Canadian Breadmakers Settle Price-Fixing Lawsuit
Jul 25, 2024 by
CPI
EssilorLuxottica Open to Meta as Shareholder, Says CEO Francesco Milleri
Jul 25, 2024 by
CPI
California Supreme Court Upholds Proposition 22, Securing Independent Contractor Status for Uber and Lyft Drivers
Jul 25, 2024 by
CPI
Paramount Global Investor Sues to Block Skydance Media Merger
Jul 25, 2024 by
CPI
Software Vendors Win Class Action Status in Antitrust Case Against CDK Global
Jul 25, 2024 by
CPI
Antitrust Mix by CPI
Antitrust Chronicle® – International Trade & Antitrust
Jul 26, 2024 by
CPI
What is Wrong with the WTO Discipline on Subsidies?
Jul 26, 2024 by
CPI
The Abiding Tension Between Trade Remedy Law and Antitrust
Jul 26, 2024 by
CPI
Trade and Antitrust: An End to Isolationism
Jul 26, 2024 by
CPI
International Trade Law and Domestic Regulation of Generative Artificial Intelligence: Divergent Approaches?
Jul 26, 2024 by
CPI