Uber Technologies Inc. asked a judge to order Alphabet Inc. Chief Executive Officer Larry Page to submit to another two hours of questioning in Waymo’s trade-secrets lawsuit, saying the executive was ill-prepared for his deposition and that his lawyers obstructed the process.
Uber’s lawyers contend Page is an “important witness” for the company’s defense against the allegations the ride-hailing company stole technology central to the development of autonomous vehicles by Alphabet’s self-driving car unit.
Otto Trucking, a company founded by the engineer at the center of the case and a co-defendant with Uber, said in a filing that Waymo’s lawyers didn’t make a good-faith effort to refresh Page’s memory on topics that are key to the litigation before he sat down for a deposition in July.
“Mr. Page could not recall any trade secrets that are at issue in this litigation,” Otto Trucking said in the filing. “Mr. Page could not recall whether Waymo was suing Mr. Levandowski for trade secret misappropriation.”
Anthony Levandowski, the engineer accused by Waymo of taking its trade secrets before he joined Uber, isn’t a defendant in the suit.
Waymo had no immediate comment on the filing.