Waymo has dropped three of its four patent-infringement claims in its ongoing lawsuit with Uber.
The lawsuit, which focuses predominantly on trade secrets, also included a number of allegations that Uber infringed on various Alphabet patents. However, the judge presiding over the case, U.S. District Judge William Alsup, said in a June 7 hearing that Waymo should consider just dropping the patent claims and instead focus on the trade secrets, Bloomberg reports.
In a statement following Waymo’s decision to largely heed the advice of Judge Alsup, Uber released a statement claiming its rival had missed the mark with the patent claims.
“Waymo’s retreat on three of their four patent claims is yet another sign that they have overpromised and can’t deliver. Not only have they uncovered zero evidence of any of the 14,000 files in question coming to Uber, they now admit that Uber’s LiDAR design is actually very different than theirs. Faced with this hard truth, Waymo has resorted to floating conspiracy theories not rooted in fact, doing everything they can to put the focus on sensation rather than substance.”
A spokesman for Waymo hit back and asserted that three of the four patent claims were dropped because they related to a ‘Spider’ LiDAR design which Uber no longer uses. The fourth and final patent claim is said to focus on the ‘Fuji’ design which Uber continues to use.
“Uber has assured the court in statements made under penalty of perjury that it no longer uses and will not use that device, so we have narrowed the issues for trial by dismissing the patent claims as to that device, with the right to re-file suit if needed. We look forward to trial,” Waymo said.
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