Uber Plans to Take Waymo Self-Driving Car Tech Theft Case to Arbitration

A lawyer for Uber informed a federal judge of the company’s plans on Thursday.

byWill Sabel Courtney|
Uber Plans to Take Waymo Self-Driving Car Tech Theft Case to Arbitration
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The legal battle of the Silicon Valley titans may not be heading to trial after all. Uber intends to file a petition to send its legal case with Google's Waymo self-driving car division to arbitration within the next couple weeks, a lawyer for Uber informed a federal judge Thursday. 

Arturo Gonzalez, an attorney representing Uber, told U.S. District Judge William Alsup that "we intend to file permission to file arbitration within two weeks," according to Reuters

The battle between Uber and Waymo broke into the open last month, when Google parent company Alphabet filed suit against Uber for allegedly using 14,000 documents of proprietary information stolen from Waymo by former employee Anthony Levandowski, who went on to start autonomous truck company Otto—which, in turn, was purchased by Uber. 

According to Reuters, in speaking to Judge Alsup today, Gonzalez reportedly said Levandowski's contract from his time at Waymo possessed a "very broad arbitration provision," which Uber intends to use to handle the disput. 

For those who may be a little rusty on their legal terminology, arbitration is a legally binding form of third-party dispute resolution that allows parties to settle a lawsuit out of court. And as arbitration rulings and awards can be confidential, there's a chance this may be the last we hear of the Uber-Waymo battle. 

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