SAN FRANCISCO _ The 1987 movie "Wall Street," in which Michael Douglas' character utters the famous line "Greed is good," became the latest point of controversy Tuesday in the Waymo-Uber trade secrets trial.
Waymo, which alleges that Uber possesses stolen trade secrets, wants to show that video clip to the jury after Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick takes the stand.
No, Uber lawyers told the judge, too emotional and prejudicial. They asked the judge to not allow it.
U.S. District Judge William Alsup said he'd decide once Kalanick, a witness in the case, takes the stand Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday.
The "greed is good" issue arises from an email that former Uber employee Anthony Levandowski sent to Kalanick in March 2016. Waymo is accusing Levandowski of stealing its trade secrets and taking them to Uber when he joined the company.
Waymo is a self-driving car development company and subsidiary of Alphabet Inc., the parent company of Google.
The trial centers on Waymo's claim that Uber gained illegal access to eight trade secrets found among gigabytes of data allegedly downloaded from Waymo servers and stolen by Levandowski.
The Levandowski email included an attachment with the Wall Street clip, and Levandowski's suggesting that: "This is the speech you need to give. Wink wink."
Uber lawyers noted that the movie is fiction.
Alsup, who's seen the film, said, "I'm going to take notice that it's all true," to the jury's amusement.
The judge said he'll have to hear from Kalanick under oath before he decides.
Kalanick is a key witness. As Uber chief executive in 2016, he struck a deal whereby Uber would pay Levandowski $592 million for a company named Otto that has announced plans to develop technology for driverless trucks.
Levandowski had already left Waymo to head the driverless team at Uber.
After Waymo filed suit against Uber in February 2017, Uber fired Levandowski.
Kalanick resigned as Uber CEO under board-member pressure in June, although he retains his board seat.
Before Kalanick's testimony, the judge warned Waymo's lawyers not to imply that he was fired due, even in part, to the trade secrets controversy.
Kalanick "was removed or encouraged to leave for a long list of problems," the judge said.
Earlier in the day, Uber objected to Waymo showing a short marketing video to the jury.
The judge asked to see it before the jury entered the room. The video showed happy people being transported in cute driverless pods, including a blind man. Titles such as "Say Hello to Waymo" were accompanied by a soundtrack that was chirpy and uplifting.
The judge ruled that Waymo could show the video, but with the sound off.
