SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
Secretive Magic Leap Says Ex-Engineer Copied Headset for China
Magic Leap Inc., a U.S. startup that makes a headset to project digital objects onto the real world, accused one of its former engineers of stealing its technology to create his own augmented reality device for China.
In a lawsuit filed Monday, Magic Leap alleges that Chi Xu, who left in 2016, exploited its confidential information to "quickly develop a prototype of lightweight, ergonomically designed, mixed reality glasses for use with smart phones and other devices that are strikingly similar" to the Florida-based startup's designs.
The lawsuit marks the latest accusation from an American firm of intellectual property theft by Chinese companies, a perennial sore point that's helped escalate tensions between the world's two largest economies. With more than $2 billion in financing, Magic Leap is one of the better-funded startups delving into so-called augmented or mixed reality, a technology that gives users the illusion that fantastical, three-dimensional digital objects exist in the physical world.
Many have accused Magic Leap of being vaporware. But now its precious vapors have been collected by people who could actually make something out of it.
Also at The Verge.
Previously: Magic Leap Bashed for Being Vaporware
Magic Leap Finally Announces a Product, But is It Still Vaporware?
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Friday June 21 2019, @11:27PM (2 children)
Either they hired too many Chinese - or they didn't hire enough. Apparently, if they had hired MORE Chinese, they would have brought the product to market, and would be making money now.
I'm with you on those mixed emotions. If the Chinese really are smarter than our people, maybe we need to shut up, sit down, and stop obstructing the Chinese?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by takyon on Friday June 21 2019, @11:56PM (1 child)
If you can "steal" (copy) and face no consequences whatsoever, smart people will do just that.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 22 2019, @02:17PM
If you happily sit on certain secret tech for 7 years and do nothing with it while lavishly living the big life having sucked billions, sorry have no sympathy for you when cry "steal" because someone actually did something practical with such tech and in a fraction of that time.
Trade secrets are like that, secrets, until are not. You could expect some pity from me should have used public patents instead.
In someplaces they say that those who don't run... fly.