Uber Technologies Inc. and Anthony Levandowski drove their defense of Google Inc.'s trade secret claims to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Friday, but didn't seem to get much traction.

Judges Pauline Newman, Evan Wallach and Kara Stoll seemed largely skeptical of Uber's claim that the case belongs in arbitration because of a provision in Levandowski's employment contract. “There's no representation of disadvantage as far as I can tell, in the district court, as to making your case,” Newman told Uber's counsel, Boies Schiller Flexner partner Hamish Hume.

The judges sounded generally uninterested in a second appeal in which Levandowski objects to the production of a due diligence report that might contain evidence of trade secret theft. The judges indicated they haven't read the report compiled by risk management firm Stroz Friedberg. Two of the judges were under the mistaken impression that Stroz Friedberg is the name of an attorney.