In Waymo trial what fired Uber exec may not say could be key
Waymo
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - One of the most dramatic moments in an upcoming trade secrets trial between Alphabet Incâs Waymo and Uber will likely come when the former chief of Uberâs self-driving car unit takes the witness stand  as he is expected to repeatedly refuse to answer questions.
 Waymo  sued Uber Technologies Inc last year  claiming that  former Waymo engineer Anthony Levandowski  downloaded more than 14 000 confidential files before leaving to set up a self-driving truck company  called Otto  which Uber acquired soon after.
 Levandowski   regarded as a visionary in autonomous technology  is not a defendant in the case but is on  Waymo âs witness list.  Waymo  has accused Uber of benefiting from  Waymo  technology that  it  says Uber acquired through  Levandowski . Uber has denied Waymoâs allegations and has argued that the data in the files were not trade secrets.
During a pretrial deposition in April  Waymo lawyers questioned Levandowski for hours about allegations that he took Waymoâs trade secrets. He declined to answer any questions about his time at both companies  citing constitutional protections against self-incrimination over 300 times  according to a deposition transcript. Levandowski has never publicly addressed the allegations of taking the documents and law enforcement has not charged anyone with their theft.
Uber  Waymo and Miles Ehrlich  an attorney for Levandowski  declined to comment.
Elizabeth Rowe  a trade secret expert at the University of Florida Levin College of Law  said Levandowski refusing to answer questions on the stand  and the judgeâs instructions around it  would hurt Uberâs case because it would reinforce  Waymoâs  arguments that  he  was deceptive and took their information.
To counter  Levandowskiâs  expected refusal to answer questions  Rowe said Uber should tell jurors in opening statements that the companyâs actions and those of Levandowski are separate  stressing that Uber fired the engineer last May.
Alsup granted Waymoâs request for a pretrial injunction in May  prohibiting Levandowski from working on Lidar  a sensor technology for self-driving cars that is the crux of the current litigation.
If  Waymo  persuades a jury that Uber stole  its  trade secrets  it said it would seek a permanent injunction to prohibit Uber from using them in the future.
Other tech executives who could testify at trial include former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick  Benchmark venture capitalist Bill Gurley  and Waymo CEO John Krafcik  court documents showed.
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - One of the most dramatic moments in an upcoming trade secrets trial between Alphabet Incâs Waymo and Uber will likely come when the former chief of Uberâs self-driving car unit takes the witness stand  as he is expected to repeatedly refuse to answer questions.
  [TGT] sued Uber Technologies Inc last year  claiming that   [TGT] downloaded more than 14 000 confidential files before leaving to set up a self-driving truck company  called Otto  which Uber acquired soon after.
  [TGT] regarded as a visionary in autonomous technology  is not a defendant in the case but is on   [TGT]  âs witness list.   [TGT] has accused Uber of benefiting from   [TGT] technology that  it  says Uber acquired through  Levandowski . Uber has denied Waymoâs allegations and has argued that the data in the files were not trade secrets.
During a pretrial deposition in April  Waymo lawyers questioned  [TGT]  for hours about allegations that he took Waymoâs trade secrets. He declined to answer any questions about his time at both companies  citing constitutional protections against self-incrimination over 300 times  according to a deposition transcript.  [TGT]  has never publicly addressed the allegations of taking the documents and law enforcement has not charged anyone with their theft.
Uber  Waymo and Miles Ehrlich  an attorney for  [TGT] declined to comment.
Elizabeth Rowe  a trade secret expert at the University of Florida Levin College of Law  said  [TGT]  refusing to answer questions on the stand  and the judgeâs instructions around it  would hurt Uberâs case because it would reinforce  Waymoâs  arguments that   [TGT]   was deceptive and took their information.
To counter  Levandowskiâs  expected refusal to answer questions  Rowe said Uber should tell jurors in opening statements that the companyâs actions and those of  [TGT]  are separate  stressing that Uber fired the engineer last May.
Alsup granted Waymoâs request for a pretrial injunction in May  prohibiting  [TGT]  from working on Lidar  a sensor technology for self-driving cars that is the crux of the current litigation.
If   [TGT] persuades a jury that Uber stole   [TGT]   trade secrets   [TGT]  said  [TGT]  would seek a permanent injunction to prohibit Uber from using them in the future.
Other tech executives who could testify at trial include former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick  Benchmark venture capitalist Bill Gurley  and Waymo CEO John Krafcik  court documents showed.