Toyota-Backed Robotaxi Unicorn Pony.ai Sues Ex-Employees Over Trade Secrets
Pony.ai, a Chinese autonomous vehicle company valued at $8.5 billion as of late, has sued two former employees over alleged trade secret infringement.
The lawsuit is arriving months after Frank (Zhenhao) Pan and Youhan Sun, two former technical leaders at Pony’s autonomous trucking business in the U.S., resigned to start a competitor called Qingtian Truck.
China’s autonomous driving upstarts are under growing pressure to commercialize as they reach later stages of fundraising. They are still years away from deploying driverless robotaxis on bustling urban roads at scale but simpler scenarios such as shuttle buses and long-haul trucks have presented them with opportunities.
Boston Scientific to Pay Nevro $85M to Settle Rest of Patent Litigation
Nevro and Boston Scientific announced today that they reached a settlement over intellectual property litigations.
The settlement gives Boston Scientific the freedom to operate using the features and capabilities embodied in its current line of products for frequencies below 1,500 Hz, with Nevro given the freedom to operate using the features and capabilities in its current line of products. It concludes all existing litigations between the companies and includes a payment of $85 million from Boston Scientific to Nevro.
Criminal Probe Now Part of Moog’s Stolen Data Case Involving Flight Control Software
Aerospace supplier Moog Inc. said far more data files containing its trade secrets had been stolen than it realized in March when it accused two former software employees of the theft and sued them and the aviation startup in California they joined after leaving Moog, according to federal court filings.
Now the trade secret theft allegation has prompted a criminal investigation, lawyers for Moog and the two former employees said during a civil hearing last week.
Convicted of Embezzling $650,000 was a Former Financial Director of the La Jolla Music Society
The La Jolla Music Society’s former head of finance received a 30-month prison term on Thursday for stealing more than $650,000 from the organisation over the period of almost ten years.
The 52-year-old Chris Benavides admitted guilt to a federal wire fraud charge earlier this year for stealing from the nonprofit between October 2011 and February 2021.
In order to make the payments appear to be for legitimate business expenses, the prosecution claims that he first wrote improper checks to himself and then changed the company’s accounting records.
Catholic School Principal Sentenced for Embezzling $175K Meant for Student Services
A former Catholic school principal in Washington, D.C., will now spend more than two years behind bars after federal prosecutors sentenced her for stealing at least $175,000 meant for student activities and services and using the cash on items such as luxury fashion goods. “According to court documents, from June 2012 through December 2017, Coates devised a scheme to steal from the school’s Home School Association, an organization affiliated with the school that supported student services and activities,” the office said in a statement. “As the school principal, Coates had access to the Home School Association’s checks and could use her discretion to pay expenditures for only school-related purposes.
Former Berkshire Bank Employee from Pittsfield Pleads Guilty to Embezzling $220,000
A man who embezzled $220,000 from Berkshire Bank pleaded guilty Monday to eight charges and could face up to three years in prison.
Leonard Curtis, a former employee at the bank, admitted that he created cashier’s checks for his personal use from Berkshire Bank and forged signatures from other employees at the bank in late 2018. Assistant Berkshire District Attorney Melissa Brooks recounted the evidence against him during a hearing in Berkshire County Superior Court.
