Uber has been asking (PDF) to move the case into arbitration since shortly after it was filed. Uber argues that Google's real dispute is with Levandowski, a former Google employee who allegedly took more than 14,000 confidential files on his way out the door. Uber doesn't dispute that took place, and Levandowski has asserted his Fifth Amendment rights rather than answer questions about it. Levandowski isn't a defendant in this lawsuit, but Google has a separate arbitration against him, which is ongoing.
US District Judge William Alsup rejected Uber's attempt to move the case into arbitration, and now the judge has been upheld (PDF) by the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
Uber argues that Waymo's case is all about Levandowski's alleged violations of his employment agreement, which is subject to arbitration. But Waymo has said it's not relying on Levandowski employment agreements to prove its case in the lawsuit against Uber, and those agreements aren't mentioned in the complaint. That ultimately swayed the appeals court, as it did Judge Alsup.
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