Theft of Trade Secrets from Google Offers a Lesson for Employers

Former Google engineer Anthony Levandowski was sentenced this week to 18 months in prison after admitting he stole trade secrets from Google related to self-driving car technology.

In sentencing Levandowski to jail time, U.S. District Judge William Alsup sent a clear message to would-be IP thieves: brilliance is no excuse for theft. In denying the Levandowski defense team’s request for home confinement in lieu of jail, the Court refused to “give a green light to every future brilliant engineer to steal trade secrets.”

The severity of the Levandowski sentence is remarkable and serves as a stark reminder of the importance of protecting trade secrets in the workplace. In an age of ever increasing job mobility, the temptation by employees to take potentially valuable information with them when they leave is a constant reality. In the case of Levandowski, shortly after leaving Google he joined Uber Technologies to continue his work in the development of driverless car technology.

Before leaving Google, Levandowski downloaded approximately 14,000 files to his personal computer. These files contained development schedules and product designs for Google’s driverless car technology.

Though he claims he never used any of the information with Uber, that didn’t stop Google from suing Uber for theft of trade secrets. That lawsuit was resolved in 2018, with Uber agreeing to a $245 million settlement.

The lesson here: It may be tempting to “go after” your competition’s top talent, and that’s okay. But there can be a fine line between using the talent, skills and instinct of your new hire and using the information gathered from his former employer. Failure to understand where that line was drawn, cost Uber $245 million.

What steps should employers take to protect intellectual property and trade secrets from theft by a potentially disgruntled employee?