Uber's Courtroom Detour Into the Secrets of the Mind
What did you know, and when did you know it?
Photographer: VCG/Getty ImagesThe civil trial in San Francisco pitting Alphabet’s Waymo against Uber’s ride-sharing service over self-driving technology has little to do with driving -- and much to do with thinking. Jurors are being asked to weigh the distinction between trade secrets, which can be stolen, and knowledge, which can’t. It will be a teaching moment for companies thinking about hiring high-level talent from competitors and for engineers contemplating changing jobs.
It’s information, which can take many different forms: financial, business, scientific, technical, economic, engineering. According to the legal definition in force in most states, a trade secret is information that has value based on it not being generally known to other people, and is the subject of reasonable efforts to guard its secrecy. Some of the best-known trade secrets are recipes and formulas, such as those of Coca-Cola, WD-40 and Kentucky Fried Chicken. The process of manufacturing Zildjian cymbals has been a family trade secret for almost 400 years.