Patent Law Practice Center

Uber to Pay Waymo $245 million to Settle Dispute

Alphabet subsidiary Waymo settled with Uber in the midst of a trade secret infringement trial. This lawsuit originated when Waymo brought suit against Uber in 2017, alleging that former Waymo engineer Anthony Levandowski, who was hired by Uber to lead Uber’s self-driving car project, took with him thousands of confidential documents.

Uber will reportedly pay $245 million in shares to Waymo in order to settle the case, a settlement that took place just prior to the start of the fifth day of testimony.

“While we do not believe that any trade secrets made their way from Waymo to Uber, nor do we believe that Uber has used any of Waymo’s proprietary information in its self-driving technology, we are taking steps with Waymo to ensure our Lidar and software represents just our good work,” Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in a statement.

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Patent Docs: Impact of Advances in DNA Sequencing Technology on Genetic Diagnostic Testing

We are pleased to share the latest from our friends at PatentDocs.org, the Biotech and Pharma Patent Law and News Blog. The authors, Donald Zuhn and Kevin Noonan, are partners at McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff, LLP, and contribute to Patent Docs on a daily basis. Today’s post is entitled, “Impact of Advances in DNA Sequencing Technology on Genetic Diagnostic Testing”, and it discusses how because DNA sequencing soon may be within the reach of the consumer, the current patent protection (and the IP protection model underlying it) for genetic diagnostic testing may become obsolete.

Here is an excerpt: (more…)