- That is the heart of the suit. Waymo alleges that in December 2016, former Waymo self-driving car engineer Anthony Levandowski stole 14,000 files containing plans and technical specifications, then left the company a month later.
The stolen documents included plans for Waymo's LiDAR system, the suit alleges.
In May 2016, Levandowski founded the self-driving truck company Otto.
That's how you do it - catch them, let them found a startup, wait for someone with a lot of money to buy them for the intellectual property, and then sue the deep pockets.
Waymo allegedly found out by being inadvertently cc'd in an email from a supplier that disclosed the Uber circuit board design. I would assume that unnamed company signed a contract in which they promised not to disclose such information and obligated them to indemnify, and perhaps defend, Uber for any damages resulting therefrom. I am interested in seeing how they will play into this as well. I can't imagine the reaction of the email sender when they found out what they had done. Wow.
I can. "Oopsie. Looks like I accidentally attached the rip-off schematic that asshole Kalahnick wants us to build for him on my email to Uber. I better remove that before OOPS I hit send. Silly me!" Let's be honest. If you build LiDAR parts for cars? And Google is one of your customers? And Uber doesn't even bother to think that maybe they're putting you in a keenly untenable position by paying you to make ripoff designs for a competitor? How much soul-searching is involved before you whoopsie your way out of the dilemma?
Perhaps it was someone that brought the situation to the attention of the higher ups who did not care, so was acting as a whistle blower. But I tend to blame most oopsies on mere "incompetence". I have had confidential info sent to me 3 times (in 2 cases it was detrimental to their client) whose careers would be detrimentally effected if it got out.
The timeline according to the article: • May 2016: Anthony Levandowski founded the self-driving truck company "Otto" (although other sources report it was January) • August 2016: Uber purchased Otto • December 2016: Levandowski allegedly stole 14,000 files containing plans and technical specifications from Google's self-driving car company "Waymo" • December 2016: A supplier that specializes in the components for LiDAR accidentally sent an attachment containing schematics of an Uber LiDAR circuit board to Waymo • January 2017: Allegedly, Levandowski attended meetings with high-level executives at Uber • January 2017: Levandowski left Waymo • February 2017: Levandowski founded "Otto Trucking"
Which is kind of confusing. Waymo's version: We found that six weeks before his resignation this former employee, Anthony Levandowski, downloaded over 14,000 highly confidential and proprietary design files for Waymo’s various hardware systems, including designs of Waymo’s LiDAR and circuit board. To gain access to Waymo’s design server, Mr. Levandowski searched for and installed specialized software onto his company-issued laptop. Once inside, he downloaded 9.7 GB of Waymo’s highly confidential files and trade secrets, including blueprints, design files and testing documentation. Then he connected an external drive to the laptop. Mr. Levandowski then wiped and reformatted the laptop in an attempt to erase forensic fingerprints. Beyond Mr. Levandowki’s actions, we discovered that other former Waymo employees, now at Otto and Uber, downloaded additional highly confidential information pertaining to our custom-built LiDAR including supplier lists, manufacturing details and statements of work with highly technical information. From the complaint: installed specialized software onto his company-issued laptop in order to access the server that stores these particular files. Once Mr. Levandowski accessed this server, he downloaded the 14,000 files, representing approximately 9.7 GB of highly confidential data. Then he attached an external drive to the laptop for a period of eight hours. He installed a new operating system that would have the effect of reformatting his laptop, attempting to erase any forensic fingerprints that would show what he did with Waymo’s valuable LiDAR designs once they had been downloaded to his computer. After Mr. Levandowski wiped this laptop, he only used it for a few minutes, and then inexplicably never used it again. They found out in December 2016 but the theft was December 2015.Recently, we received an unexpected email. One of our suppliers specializing in LiDAR components sent us an attachment (apparently inadvertently) of machine drawings of what was purported to be Uber’s LiDAR circuit board — except its design bore a striking resemblance to Waymo’s unique LiDAR design.
In December 2015, Mr. Levandowski specifically searched for and then