Uber vs Waymo legal battle- Uber wins a crucial point

Uber is fighting too many battles both within the company and outside it. Though things aren't looking bright for the ride-hailing company on either of the fronts, looks like, Uber may have got a breather of sorts at least on one front. Alphabet's self-driving unit Waymo has dismissed three out of four of its patent infringement claims against Uber in its lawsuit that alleged that parts of Uber’s autonomous driving technology, specifically LiDAR, infringe on patents held by Waymo.

While Uber sees it as a crucial save, Waymo isn’t actually going back on its claim that the ride-hailing company copied the design for a key self-driving technology called LiDAR. Apparently, Waymo decided to drop its claims on three of the patents, noting that they were related to an earlier version of Uber’s autonomous lidar design nicknamed “Spider” that the company was no longer using. The remaining patent claim targets a newer version of lidar technology called Fiji, which is still in use by Uber.

The cab-aggregator, however, says that the decision to drop the majority of the patent claims is a sign that Alphabet’s case against Uber has been weakened. Alphabet will also be narrowing their claims of trade secrets from over 100 to 10 as per the judge’s request.

Meanwhile, Uber has also been granted the ability to depose Alphabet CEO Larry Page about why his company decided against partnering with Uber as part of its autonomous vehicle program. This, in turn, will unravel Alphabet’s motivation in suing the ride-hail company. Uber has long held the position that Alphabet, which is also an investor, was simply trying to slow a competitor with this lawsuit — a position that’s been bolstered now that Alphabet has decided not to pursue some of its patent claims.

Waymo, on its part, continues to hold Uber responsible for Anthony Levandowski's theft of 14,000 “highly confidential and proprietary files” from Waymo.

“Anthony Levandowski led Uber’s self-driving car program for over a year after stealing 14,000 confidential Waymo files. While Uber has decided it is now advantageous to disavow him, the truth is Uber supported Levandowski’s 5th Amendment claims to avoid self-incrimination well into this litigation and continues to obstruct the production of key documents every step of the way. We initiated legal action because we came across evidence showing stolen Waymo files made their way into Uber’s technology, and despite Uber’s attempt to distract with constantly changing storylines, Waymo has continued to build its case with more evidence uncovered during expedited discovery. We look forward to sharing this evidence in court,” a Waymo spokesperson said in a statement.