Waymo’s lawsuit against Uber was surprising on a number of fronts, including Google and Alphabet’s normal hesitancy towards suits. However, as it stated, Waymo found Uber’s actions a particularly large affront. Reuters has now discovered what Waymo is demanding from Uber in settlement talks to stop the case from going to trial.
The settlement included at least $1 billion in damages, though Reuters was unable to learn the exact dollar figure. For comparison, if Waymo were to win the case, it has estimated damages from Uber at $1.9 billion. It’s unclear when this offer was made, with no more settlement talks planned.
Additionally, the Alphabet division requested a public apology from Uber, as well as the appointment of an independent monitor. A source tells Reuters that Waymo’s main priority in the case is to get a permanent injunction so that Uber can no longer use the alleged intellectual property that was stolen from Alphabet’s self-driving efforts. Separately, on Monday, Waymo requested to the court that Uber reveal its LiDAR-related source code.
Considering them “non-starters,” Uber rejected those terms with analysts noting that the “aggressive settlement demands” reflects Waymo’s legal confidence and how they are not inclined to resolve the case anytime soon.
Of note, Waymo sees this case as a distraction to Uber’s leadership, according to Elizabeth Rowe of the University of Florida Levin College of Law. One anecdote revealed that Kalanick’s lawyers wanted to postpone a recent disposition of the former CEO due to a fight over appointing more Uber board members.
Waymo did not yield and Kalanick was deposed anyway. Meanwhile, Uber is devoting “thousands of hours” to check its servers for confidential Waymo information and has hired three law firms to deal with the suit.
The trial was originally expected to begin this month, but has been postponed to give Waymo more time to review a late cache of information from Uber.
Check out 9to5Google on YouTube for more news:
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Comments