WINTER 202 0 TODAY’S GENER AL COUNSEL
Compliance
A Trade Secret Wake-Up Call By Pamela Passman
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T
he recent criminal indictment of a prominent self-driving car expert for alleged theft of trade secrets serves as a stark reminder for companies large and small that effective protections for their company’s most valuable technologies are vital for ensuring success, and for avoiding damaging losses and lawsuits. Anthony Levandowski was the co-founder and technical leader of Google’s Waymo project, which produced Google’s self-driving car.
A U.S. federal grand jury in California has issued a 33-count criminal indictment against Levandowski, charging him with theft and attempted theft of Google’s self-driving car trade secrets. Levandowski denies all the charges. The charges are based on the civil litigation in which Waymo sued Uber for the same incidents alleged in the criminal case. Google and Waymo settled with Uber a few days into the trial, but not before the judge, Judge Alsup, referred allegations involving
Levandowski to the U. S. Attorney’s Office for investigation. Levandowski claims that he did not make use of the information; but the Economic Espionage Act, under which he is charged, only requires that a trade be misappropriated “without authorization.” Levandowski left Waymo in 2016 to form a new company to develop self-driving truck kits, a company that was soon bought by Uber and led to Levandowski also running Uber’s selfdriving car operation.