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Not sure why this was buried at end of the article: "The person familiar with the deal added that as part of the transaction, GM will also get a license to a pa
by bruceb 11y ago
Not sure why this was buried at end of the article: "The person familiar with the deal added that as part of the transaction, GM will also get a license to a patent that was granted to Sidecar CEO Paul in 2002: “System and method for determining an efficient transportation route.”
Sidecar executives believed the patent covered the essential intellectual property behind ride-sharing, though Uber and Lyft never responded to Sidecar’s repeated attempts to enforce the patent, this person said."
This seems a story by itself.
- greglindahl 11y agoA good illustration of how patents are often not that useful to startups - Sidecar may have gotten more money from GM for it, but it did them no good against Uber and Lyft.
- sjg007 11y agoWhy did they not file a patent infringement lawsuit?
- greglindahl 11y agoBecause that's expensive, and rarely works.
- hkmurakami 11y agoIt would also take years to resolve and wouldn't impact their business operations in the meantime (look at Apple vs Samsung lawsuits circa 2011)