Waymo LLC v. Uber Technologies, Inc.

ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO DISMISS UNFAIR COMPETITION LAW CLAIM

INTRODUCTION

In this action asserting claims for trade secret misappropriation, patent infringement, and unfair competition, defendants *1061 move to dismiss the latter as superseded by California’s Uniform Trade Secrets Act. The motion is Granted.

STATEMENT

The centerpiece of this action is plaintiff Waymo LLC’s claims against defendants Uber Technologies, Inc., Ottomotto LLC, and Otto Trucking LLC for misappropriation of trade secrets under the federal Defend Trade Secrets Act and the California Uniform Trade Secrets Act. Additionally, Waymo has asserted four claims for patent infringement and one claim for violation of-Section 17200 of California’s Business and Professions Code against all defendants. The following is taken from the well-pled allegations of the amended complaint (Dkt. No. 23).

Self-driving cars represent a nascent and potentially trillion-dollar industry (id. ¶ 1). To compete in that industry, Waymo has invested heavily in budding custom, in-house Light Detection and Ranging (Li-DAR) technology that helps its self-driving cars “see” their surroundings (id. ¶¶ 2, 31). Waymo has patented some of…