Is Legal Trouble Brewing For Nvidia After “Stolen” Data Discovery?

One vital process for businesses to function effectively and efficiently is the timely exchange of data.

Modern technologies make it possible for employees to seamlessly collaborate in real-time in the workplace. This can be achieved even if they’re on opposite sides of the planet, as is the case with most multinational companies.

Not just them, even partnering companies can now collaborate easily, whether by text messages, audio calls or video conferences. Additionally, screen sharing technology, which isn’t exactly new, has made it much easier to convey ideas and make it simpler for others to understand ideas.

However, sometimes, this convenience can backfire.

We recently saw an example of this with the American multinational technology company Nvidia Corporation and the German arm of the French global automotive supplier, Valeo (Valeo Schalter und Sensoren GmbH).

According to a lawsuit filed by Valeo, Nvidia has been using stolen data and trade secrets of Valeo’s proprietary software to further its parking and driving assistance software efforts.

So, what happened? Let’s explore!

What Happened Between Nvidia And Valeo?

It all began with a video conference held via Microsoft Teams on March 8, 2022, which included members of both companies.
The call was part of a joint project contract for a major automotive OEM (unnamed) that required employees of both companies to collaborate.
On the call was a former Valeo employee, Mohammad Moniruzzaman, who was working at Nvidia at the time. He was giving an online presentation, sharing his screen. During the call, Moniruzzaman minimized his presentation and accidentally displayed a file with Valeo’s source code.
Before he was made aware of the goof up, Valeo employees recognized the source code and took screenshots.
Additionally, the file path on his screen still read “ValeoDocs”.

What Was The Timeline Of Events?

In early 2021, a little after the OEM customer announced that Nvidia would be a part of the project, Moniruzzaman (a Valeo employee at the time), downloaded the entirety of Valeo’s advanced parking and driving assistance systems source code, without authorization.
This was done by granting unauthorized access to his personal email account and stole tens of thousands of files and 6 GB of source code. After which, he removed his personal account from Valeo’s systems.
In August 2021, Moniruzzaman resigned from Valeo and took up a job in Nvidia, gaining a promotion to a senior position in the bargain and continued working on the same project.
After investigations carried out by German investigators, it was found that Moniruzzaman’s Nvidia computer contained Valeo’s software and the proprietary teaching and training documents. Additionally, they found Valeo documentation and hardware pinned on the walls of Moniruzzaman’s home office.
This resulted in a September 8, 2023, conviction for Moniruzzaman for unlawful acquisition, use and disclosure of Valeo’s trade secrets, charges he did not deny at any point during the German criminal investigation. He even admitted that he used the trade secret code multiple times while at Nvidia.

Source

What Did The Complaint Say?

Excerpts from the lawsuit complaint read as “On March 8, 2022, one of these videoconference meetings was scheduled. Mr. Moniruzzaman, now employed by Nvidia, attended the videoconference call—along with four other Nvidia employees, all of whom reside in the United States and at least two of whom reside and work in this district—and shared his computer screen during the call. When he minimized the PowerPoint presentation he had been sharing, however, he revealed one of Valeo’s verbatim source code files open on his computer.”
[Contd.] “So brazen was Mr. Moniruzzaman’s theft, the file path on his screen still read “ValeoDocs.” Valeo participants on the videoconference call immediately recognized the source code and took a screenshot before Mr. Moniruzzaman was alerted of his error. By then it was too late to cover his tracks. An IT audit confirmed that prior to his departure, Mr. Moniruzzaman downloaded the entirety of Valeo’s parking and driving assistance source code files, breaching Valeo IT rules and policy, violating the law, and misappropriating Valeo’s trade secrets.”

Source

While both Valeo and Nvidia did not provide an immediate comment, Nvidia did admit earlier that Valeo’s proprietary source code was used by the company.

Through the lawsuit, Valeo seeks for "injunctive relief and recovery of damages for Nvidia’s trade secret misappropriation” which includes Moniruzzaman’s actions, as well as "the illegitimate advantage he has given Nvidia in its development of advanced parking and driving assistance software.”

Do you think companies need better employee-centric solutions to protect trade secrets? Can stricter security measures and policies help shore up internal data?

Let us know in the comments below!

First published on Tue, Nov 28, 2023

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