Apple Eyes Detente With Startup It Accused Of ‘Stealth’ Theft
The dispute started in 2022 when Apple sued former employees who went to Rivos.
(Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc. is in settlement talks over its claims that chip startup Rivos Inc. poached engineers to steal trade secrets and counterclaims that the iPhone maker forced employees to sign anticompetitive agreements restricting where they can work.
The dispute started in 2022 when Apple sued former employees who went to Rivos, accusing them of working with the “stealth-mode” startup to take proprietary information about chip designs. Rivos in September fired back at Apple for allegedly using illegal measures to intimidate employees “who might dare to leave.”
The judge overseeing the case agreed Wednesday to a request by the companies to put it on hold while settlement negotiations are underway.
Apple is entangled in multiple high-profile intellectual property battles. The Cupertino, California-based company was forced just before Christmas to briefly stop sales of its signature smartwatch in a patent fight with Masimo Corp. Apple’s smartwatch is also the subject of protracted litigation with AliveCor Inc., a startup backed by billionaire venture capitalist Vinod Khosla. The world’s most valuable company in April ended a four-year court tussle with one of its former leading chip architects who founded the startup Nuvia Inc.
The showdown with Rivos revolves around “system-on-chip” technology that shrinks multiple computer elements into a small semiconductor. Apple says it has spent billions of dollars in this area, aiming to make its devices more powerful. Apple claimed in its suit that almost 50 of its former employees joined Rivos since the startup was founded in 2021.
US District Judge Edward Davila in San Jose, California, threw out Apple’s trade secret claims against Rivos in August, but gave the iPhone maker a chance to file a revised complaint. Apple and six former employees dropped claims against each other this week.
Representatives of Rivos and Apple didn’t respond to requests for comment.
The case is Apple Inc. v. Rivos Inc., 22-cv-2637, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (San Jose).
--With assistance from Mark Gurman.
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