NVIDIA Sued by French Automotive Supplier Over Alleged Trade Secret Theft

NVIDIA is currently embroiled in a legal dispute after French automotive supplier Valeo filed a lawsuit against the tech company.

According to Bloomberg, the crux of the matter revolves around allegations of trade secret theft stemming from an accidental screen-sharing incident involving one of NVIDIA's engineers, Mohammad Moniruzzaman.

The Lawsuit Against NVIDIA

The incident reportedly occurred during a joint meeting between Valeo and NVIDIA in 2022. Moniruzzaman, an engineer at NVIDIA and a former employee of Valeo, unintentionally displayed source code files from his computer while sharing his screen.

This blunder did not go unnoticed by Valeo's employees, who quickly recognized the proprietary code and captured screenshots before informing Moniruzzaman of his mistake.

The backdrop of this meeting was the collaboration between the two companies on advanced parking and driving assistance technology.

The relationship between Valeo and NVIDIA had evolved from a prior arrangement wherein Valeo was responsible for the software and hardware aspects of a manufacturer's parking assistance technology.

However, in 2021, the larger corporation won the contract for developing parking assistance software, resulting in a shift in responsibilities. Valeo alleged in its lawsuit that Moniruzzaman sought to leverage this information to his advantage at NVIDIA.

The main point of Valeo's complaint is the claim that Moniruzzaman, after realizing his diminished role at Valeo, accessed Valeo's systems unauthorized using his personal email. He allegedly stole "tens of thousands of files" and 6GB of source code.

Moniruzzaman has departed from Valeo and assumed a senior position at NVIDIA, carrying the alleged ill-gotten information with him. Notably, he continued working on the same project he was involved with Valeo, explaining his presence at the video conference where the screensharing incident occurred.

Valeo asserted that its former employee admitted to the theft, and German authorities reportedly discovered Valeo's documentation and hardware displayed in Moniruzzaman's residence during a police raid. In September, a German court convicted the engineer of infringing on business secrets, imposing a penalty of €14,400 ($15,750).

NVIDIA's Representatives

In response to these allegations, NVIDIA's legal representatives, in a letter dated June 2022, asserted the company's disinterest in Valeo's code or alleged trade secrets.

They claimed that NVIDIA had promptly taken concrete steps to protect its client's rights. Despite this assertion, Valeo filed a lawsuit, claiming that NVIDIA had accrued substantial profits - potentially in millions - by unlawfully appropriating its trade secrets.