Waymo – a company spun out of Google – filed a lawsuit in
February claiming former employee Andrew Levandowski had stolen 14,000
documents relating to LiDAR, a core technology used to guide autonomous
vehicles.
Mr Levandowski went on to co-found Otto, a self-driving
truck company acquired by Uber for $660m last year.
Waymo requested a judge grant an injunction on the use of
the disputed technology, which could take Uber’s self-driving fleet – currently
being tested in a few locations in the US – off the roads.
At a hearing earlier this week, Uber sought to convince a
judge that an injunction would be unfair.
“Waymo’s injunction motion is a misfire,” said Angela
Padilla, a lawyer for Uber, in a statement on Friday.
“There is no evidence that any of the 14,000 files in
question ever touched Uber’s servers, and Waymo’s assertion that our multi-lens
LiDAR is the same as their single-lens LiDAR is clearly false.”
Part of Uber’s defence is also an admission that it lags
behind its competitors in the autonomous race. It said while it has been
developing its own LiDAR tech, it has so far needed to rely on third-party
companies to provide the system for its cars.
“If Waymo genuinely thought that Uber was using its secrets,
it would not have waited more than five months to seek an injunction,” Ms
Padilla added.
“Waymo doesn’t meet the high bar for an injunction, which
would stifle our independent innovation – probably Waymo’s goal in the first place.”
Waymo argued that blueprints, mistakenly sent to Waymo via
email last December, showed Uber’s plans to use the stolen designs in future.
Waymo was spun out of Google earlier this year as the
company seeks to commericalise its technology
The company dismissed Uber’s assertion that none of the
files were on its servers by pointing out that the firm’s search had not been
able to include the computer belonging to the man at the centre of the
controversy, Mr Levandowski.
At a recent court hearing, held in private but leaked to the
press, Mr Levandowski invoked his Fifth Amendment rights, a constitutional
clause that allows US citizens to resist any request to share information that
could put them at risk of self-incrimination.
The presiding judge advised that Uber should be firmer with
Mr Levandowski in order to get access to the files – such as threatening to fire
him if he did not co-operate.
“If you cannot find them in your files there is going to be
a preliminary injunction,” Judge William Alsup warned Uber
“You’re not denying it, no one is denying he has the 14,000
files. You keep on your payroll someone who took 14,000 documents and is liable
to use them.”
He added: “This is an extraordinary case. I have never seen
a record this strong in 42 years. So you are up against it.”
