Apple’s trade secrets lawsuit against OpenAI has been reassigned to U.S. District Judge Edward Davila, replacing the magistrate judge, Magistrate Judge Virginia K. DeMarchi, initially assigned to the case, reports 9to5Mac.
From the article: When a civil lawsuit is filed in the Northern District of California, it is randomly assigned to either a district judge or a magistrate judge. If the case is assigned to a magistrate judge, each party must then indicate whether it agrees to let that judge oversee the entire case.
That is because district judges have the authority to oversee federal civil cases from start to finish, while magistrate judges can do so only with the consent of every party involved.
Apple, for its part, appears to have declined to okay DeMarchi.
The background for all this: In a lawsuit filed with the Northern District of California earlier this month, it was announced that Apple is suing OpenAI. The tech giant says it’s uncovered evidence of a months-long scheme to steal confidential information.
Apple says OpenAI hardware lead and former Apple designer Tang Tan and former electrical engineer Chang Liu directed Apple employees interviewing with OpenAI to provide details on unreleased devices, components, manufacturing processes, and vendor relationships.
Here’s what Apple said in a statement to MacRumors: At Apple, our teams are constantly developing breakthrough technologies to create the best products and services in the world, and protecting their work and intellectual property is something we take very seriously. Recently, significant evidence has emerged suggesting individuals employed by OpenAI wrongfully took Apple’s secret and confidential information regarding our unreleased technologies, processes, and products. We will always defend our teams’ hard work and innovations, and we are taking all appropriate steps to do so.
And from the lawsuit:
OpenAI also instructs new hires on how to avoid scrutiny when they leave Apple. For example, Mr. Tan warns them not to tell Apple that they have taken jobs at OpenAI, so they can stay at Apple as long as they can. After his own departure, Mr. Tan improperly retained or obtained an internal Apple managers’ document marked “Need to Know” that describes security procedures for employee departures. Messages left on Apple-issued work devices show that Mr. Tan and his OpenAI colleagues have been sharing this document with new hires before they give notice to Apple of their departures, previewing Apple’s security protocols. Unsurprisingly, Apple’s investigation has found a pattern by employees who depart for OpenAI of taking steps to evade the security processes intended to protect Apple’s confidential information.
OpenAI has long been luring talent from Apple. The latest that I know of was Paul Meade, who oversaw development on the Vision Pro and Apple’s upcoming smart glasses. Also among the hires from Apple are former Apple industrial design head Evans Hankey and former hardware engineering executive Tang Tan.
However, Open AI said it is “not aware” of any evidence that Apple’s allegations of trade secret theft have merit in a statement to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. The statement: While we take these allegations seriously, we’re not aware of any evidence that this complaint has merit. We believe in fair competition and allowing people the freedom to work wherever they choose, and we’re focused on building innovative technology that empowers people everywhere.
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Article provided with permission from AppleWorld.Today