Apple settles trade secrets lawsuit with chip startup Rivos

Apple settles lawsuit: Apple intends to resolve the trade secrets lawsuit it brought against chip startup Rivos, as stated in a joint court filing submitted on Friday in California federal court.

According to the filing, the companies informed the US District Court for the Northern District of California that they have reached an agreement aimed at potentially settling the case. 

Under the terms of the agreement, Apple will have the opportunity to inspect Rivos' systems and recover any confidential information.

Representatives for Apple and Rivos have not yet provided additional details or comments regarding the settlement.

In 2022, Apple filed a lawsuit against the "stealth" startup Rivos, alleging that the company, based in Mountain View, California, had unlawfully acquired Apple's trade secrets by hiring numerous engineers from Apple and utilising its proprietary information to develop competing "system-on-chip" (SoC) technology.

SoCs are advanced integrated circuits containing multiple computer components within a single chip, such as central processing units and graphics processing units. 

Apple claimed in its lawsuit that it had invested billions of dollars and over a decade of research into its SoC designs, which have significantly influenced the personal and mobile computing industries.

Rivos refuted Apple's accusations, contending that Apple had been attempting to retaliate against Rivos and its employees ever since learning about the promising startup. 

Rivos filed a counterclaim against Apple for unfair competition in September of the same year.

Last month, Apple settled related claims in the case against six former employees who had departed from Apple to join Rivos.

(With Reuters Inputs)