NVIDIA has settled a U.S. lawsuit filed by automotive supplier Valeo. The case involved allegations that a former Valeo software engineer stole trade secrets related to car parking assistance technology. According to court documents, the engineer inadvertently revealed the theft during a video call.
The settlement was reported in a California federal court docket on Monday. The case had been scheduled for trial in January.
NVIDIA declined to comment. Valeo spokespeople and attorneys also did not respond immediately to requests for details about the settlement.
Background of the Case
Valeo filed the lawsuit in 2023 against NVIDIA, based in Santa Clara, California. The complaint alleged that former Valeo engineer Mohammad Moniruzzaman took confidential source code for Valeo’s driving assistance systems to his new job at NVIDIA. He reportedly shared the code accidentally during a collaborative video call between the two companies.
Valeo claimed NVIDIA used the stolen information to accelerate its entry into the autonomous vehicle market and save millions in development costs.
NVIDIA denied the allegations and said it terminated Moniruzzaman after learning of the claims. The company also previously defended itself against a related lawsuit from Valeo in Germany.
Legal Teams
The case is Valeo Schalter und Sensoren GmbH v. NVIDIA Corp, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, No. 5:23-cv-05721.
For Valeo, the legal team included Russell Levine and Laura Uhlenhuth of Kirkland & Ellis. For NVIDIA, Sean Pak, Owen Roberts, and Ron Hagiz of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan represented the company.
