Uber must return files to Waymo, formerly Google’s self-driving car division, a US judge has ordered. The ruling by District Judge William Alsup, said that Waymo had supplied a“compelling record”that a former executive had“pilfered over 14,000 files from Waymo”. As part of the ruling, Alsup issued an injunction against Uber requiring the company to return all of the materials downloaded by the executive to Waymo by May 31.
Uber has also been ordered to keep the executive away from any role or responsibility related to LiDAR and to conduct an investigation into the downloaded documents. In the ruling, at the US District Court for the Northern District of California, San Francisco Division, Alsup explained that although the trade secrets case warranted provisional relief, Waymo’s patent infringement argument did not. The self-driving car company alleged that Uber had infringed US patent numbers 8,836,922; 9,368,936; 9,285,464; and 9,086,273, all of which concern LiDAR technology. On May 11, Alsup called for the US attorney to investigate the alleged theft of Waymo’s self-driving car technology.