Apple’s chip trade-secrets lawsuit against startup Rivos can proceed, judge rules

A federal judge in California has allowed Apple’s lawsuit against startup Rivos Inc. to proceed, alleging that Rivos poached Apple engineers and stole trade secrets used to develop its chip designs.

Patricia Hurtado and Malathi Nayak for Bloomberg News:

US District Judge Edward Davila in San Jose said Apple had “sufficiently identified” a trade secret and alleged “sufficient harm” by Rivos and three former employees. The judge rejected Rivos’s request to dismiss a Defend Trade Secrets act claim as well as a breach of contract claim against five former Apple employees.
The dispute revolves around “system-on-chip” technology that shrinks multiple computer elements into a small chip, which Apple says it has invested billions of dollars in to make its devices more powerful.
Apple claimed in the suit filed last year that Rivos, which has hired dozens of Apple engineers, began a
“coordinated campaign” in June 2021 to target its employees.
The former employees left and joined Rivos after stealing “highly-sensitive” proprietary and trade secret information about Apple’s “system-on-chip” designs…

MacDailyNews Note: The case is Apple Inc., a California Corporation v. Rivos, Inc. et al, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, No. 5:22-cv-02637.
Interns, start your engines! Prost, everyone!