A judge's unusual recommendation for federal prosecutors to investigate allegations that Uber Technologies Inc. and a top executive stole Google's driverless-car trade secrets casts a new shadow over one of Uber's most critical initiatives. U.S. District Judge William Alsup late Thursday referred Google parent Alphabet Inc.'s GOOGL -0.08% lawsuit against Uber to the U.S. Attorney's Office, asking federal prosecutors to probe Alphabet's claims that one of its former executives colluded with Uber to steal 14,000 files related to driverless-car design. Lawyers and law professors said Judge Alsup's referral has little, if any, precedent in a civil trade-secrets case. They said the judge's move suggests he believes there is strong evidence of trade-secret theft and potentially that federal investigators will be able to uncover more evidence than Alphabet's attorneys. Attorneys for Uber and Anthony Levandowski, the Google-turned-Uber executive at the center of the case, have repeatedly fought efforts to turn over some documents.

The explosive legal battle between Uber and Waymo is headed for a public showdown. A federal judge in California denied Uber's request for private arbitration, according to court documents filed on Thursday night. Uber's request for arbitration would have allowed the ride-sharing giant to defend itself behind closed doors. Instead, Uber will have to go to trial to answer Waymo's accusations that an Uber engineer stole its self-driving car designs. Uber called the judge's decision "unfortunate" in a statement emailed to The Atlantic.

Late last month, a federal court dismissed a lawsuit brought against a Kentucky man who shot a drone out of the sky when it allegedly flew over his property in 2015. The man, who used a shotgun to take out the drone, later dubbed himself the "Drone Slayer." The drone operator, who filed the lawsuit in 2016, argued that his DJI Phantom 3 quadcopter, flying at an altitude of some 200 feet, was in federally protected airspace and was in no way trespassing based on the Federal Aviation Administration's rules and even the trespassing laws of his state, which according to his suit prohibit a person from intruding, not a drone. In short, it wasn't because it thought this drone operator was incorrect; it was because it didn't deem the matter important enough to make a decision that might influence the delicate balance between federal and states' rights. And one of the justifications for that conclusion was that the FAA hadn't involved itself in the incident.

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A lawsuit by Waymo, alleging the use by rival Uber Technologies of stolen trade secrets relating to autonomous vehicle technology, has been referred by a federal judge to a U.S. attorney, raising the possibility of a criminal prosecution. "This case is referred to the United States Attorney for investigation of possible theft of trade secrets based on the evidentiary record supplied thus far concerning plaintiff Waymo LLC's claims for trade secret misappropriation," wrote Judge William Alsup of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California late Thursday. "The Court takes no position on whether a prosecution is or is not warranted, a decision entirely up to the United States Attorney," Judge Alsup added. In another order, the Judge also rejected Uber's motion that most of the claims of the lawsuit should be settled through arbitration, a process that is usually conducted in private, and is cheaper and faster than a federal lawsuit. The dispute in the autonomous vehicle technology market reflects the stiff competition to get driverless vehicles in the hands of consumers.

Anthony Levandowski, shown here during a briefing at a garage owned by his self-driving truck company Otto, which Uber bought in 2016. The U.S. Department of Justice has begun a criminal investigation into Uber's use of a software tool that helped its drivers evade local transportation regulators, two sources familiar with the situation told Reuters. SAN FRANCISCO -- Uber suffered a potentially major setback in a court case that could affect the development of self-driving cars Thursday night when the judge referred the case to the U.S. Attorney for an investigation into the possible theft of trade secrets by an Uber executive. In the ruling, Judge William Alsup said the case must stay in court and not go to a private arbitrator as Uber had wanted. "The court takes no position on whether a prosecution is or is not warranted, a decision entirely up to the United States Attorney," Alsup wrote in his order.

The federal judge overseeing a trade secret dispute between Uber and the Google spin-off Waymo has recommended that federal prosecutors begin a criminal investigation into the alleged theft of Waymo's self-driving car technology. Judge William Alsup's referral of the case to the US attorney came amid a flurry of orders in the contentious lawsuit between two Silicon Valley giants. Alsup also denied Uber's attempt to force the case into arbitration and partially granted Waymo's request for a preliminary injunction against Uber. The details of the preliminary injunction are sealed, so it is unclear to what extent Uber will be affected by the order. Waymo had sought to compel the return of its documents and to bar Uber from using lidar technology it said was stolen.

In the latest bad news for Uber, the judge presiding over its trade secrets lawsuit with Google self-driving car unit Waymo has asked federal prosecutors to investigate the case. Reuters and Bloomberg report that US District Judge William Alsup said he is not taking a position on whether or not charges are warranted. At the same time, he denied a request by Uber to take the case to private arbitration, opting to keep things in the public eye, and also partially granted Waymo's request for an injunction. That ruling is under seal, for now, but Anthony Levandowski, the engineer at the center of the case, has said he's recusing himself from LiDAR-related work while the case is ongoing. That technology, which allows self-driving vehicles to see where they're going, is what Waymo claims he took, and if Uber has to start over it could cost the company years of time.

A judge asked federal prosecutors to investigate Uber Technologies Inc. and one of its engineers for potential theft of trade secrets from Google, heightening the stakes of a legal battle between Uber and Google parent Alphabet Inc. over driverless-car technology. U.S. District Judge William Alsup in San Francisco also temporarily blocked a limited part of Uber's driverless-car program, which Google alleges benefited from the stolen trade secrets. Also Thursday, Judge Alsup determined that the lawsuit Google filed against...

Samsung could be joining the smart assistant-powered speakers market in the future. The tech giant headquartered in Seoul, South Korea has recently been awarded a design patent for a mysterious "audio device," and it won't come as a surprise if this would turn out to be another Amazon Echo rival. Last Tuesday, Patently Mobile learned that Samsung was granted two design patents by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. While one is for a new "Note"-branded smartphone, another is for a digital assistant device that could be the tech giant's response to the successful Amazon Echo and the similar devices that have been popping up on the market recently. When Samsung introduced Bixby alongside the new Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 in late March, it mentioned its plan of making the digital assistant available to a range of devices including smart home appliances, connected devices and possibly other gadgets that have yet to be introduced to the public.