Judge Orders Uber To Return 14,000 Files To Waymo
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – There are new developments in the ongoing case between Uber and Google's self-driving car division called Waymo.
Waymo filed a lawsuit back in February claiming that one of their former engineers, stole 14,000 highly confidential files before leaving and taking a position at Uber.
Anthony Levandowski is not named in the lawsuit that's centered around the technology used in self-driving cars. However, the thousands of files he's accused of taking are the reason Waymo accuses Uber of trade theft secrets.
Levandowski left Google in 2016 to start his own self-driving truck business, which Uber bought last August. In April he stepped aside as the head of Uber's self-driving program, which operates self-driving cars in Pittsburgh, Arizona and California.
On Monday, a federal judge ruled that Levandowski must be formally removed as head of the program. In addition, Uber has to create a timeline of events surrounding Levandowski's hiring and ensure that the 14,000 files are returned to their rightful owner.
Uber argues that their Lidar technology is different from Waymo's.
They released a statement following the ruling:
"We are pleased with the court's ruling that Uber can continue building and utilizing all of its self-driving technology, including our innovation around LiDAR. We look forward to moving toward trial and continuing to demonstrate that our technology has been built independently from the ground up," a spokesperson said.
Waymo did not comment following the ruling.
The federal judge referred the case to federal prosecutors for a possible criminal investigation regarding the reported theft of the trade secrets.
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