In an article for Bloomberg Businessweek, Bass, Berry & Sims attorney Janelle Waack commented on the trade secret misappropriation trial between Uber and Waymo, Google’s self-driving car unit. Waymo alleges $1.9 billion in damages resulting from Uber’s poaching of a key engineering team that developed Waymo’s advanced LiDAR systems for detecting and mapping nearby cars, obstacles and people. Due to the magnitude of the potential damages and scarcity of talent in certain areas of high value technology, venture capitalists, investment firms, and employers are keeping a close eye on the suit. “The people who raise capital are going to be asking, ‘Where did your technology come from?'” said Janelle. Acquirers will be asking, “What do I need to do to ensure that I don’t get hit with a $2 billion lawsuit because I hired away talent from my competitor?”
The full article, “For Once, Uber Needs Travis Kalanick to Speak Up,” was published by Bloomberg Businessweek on February 2, 2018, and is available online.