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Amazon acquired robotics company Dispatch to build Scout

64 points by mmq 8y ago

lnsru 8y ago
What will happen to Starship Technologies? Both robots are very similar in pictures. Wasn’t Estonia good enough market for robotics startup?
- matthewfelgate 8y ago
  They are still going and expanding. They are on US college campuses and in Milton Keynes, UK.
- robk 8y ago
  It's hard to believe there's no IP issues as that Amazon one looks JUST like the Starship model.
  - Fricken 8y ago
    There's plenty of prior art for boxy 6-wheeled robots. Pepsi also has a boxy 6-wheeled delivery robot: https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/snacks-wheels-pepsico-tests-driving-robot-delivery-60135284 https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/snacks-wheels-peps...
  - withhighprod 8y ago
    There’s for sure no IP issue. That’ll be the first thing Amazon checked during acquisition and it’s a pain in the ass for someone undergone it.
  - Twirrim 8y ago
    Even if they were, like at almost every major company, engineers in Amazon are told _not_ to look at patents at all, ever. The way the patent system in the US is set up, there's a huge financial difference (orders of magnitude, IIRC) between "accidental infringement" and "wilful infringement". If your engineers have never gone looking for patents, it can't be argued that you wilfully infringed on existing patents, should it ever go to court.
    - sib 8y ago
      > The way the patent system in the US is set up, there's a huge financial difference (orders of magnitude, IIRC) between "accidental infringement" and "wilful infringement". It's up to 3x ("treble damages") and the US Supreme Court lowered the standard for granting increased damages not too long ago. https://www.jonesday.com/Supreme-Court-Upends-Law-of-Treble-Damages-in-Patent-Cases-06-15-2016/ https://www.jonesday.com/Supreme-Court-Upends-Law-of-Treble-...
matthewfelgate 8y ago
So Amazon kinda lied when they said it was built with in house technology.
- kkarakk 8y ago
  amazon's "house" is slang for "wareHOUSE full of startups amazon bought for an aggregate purchase price of $204 million to acquire technologies and know-how to enable Amazon to serve customers more effectively"
- mft_ 8y ago
  If they bought the smaller company together with its IP, employees, and patent, that all becomes 'in house', doesn't it?
giorgioz 8y ago
It feels like this article is purposefully avoiding back-linking to Starship Technologies website https://www.starship.xyz https://www.starship.xyz Could have Amazon acqui-hired Starship Technologies instead of Dispatch? The reason is probably that Dispatch is backed by Andreessen Horowitz. This doesn’t feel meritocracy to me. It feels Silicon Valley is building an inner circle where they only invest in each other. Techcrunch seems part of it avoiding back-linking and SEO gains for Estonian based Starship Technologies. Is this article just content marketing to publicize Amazon and Dispatch?
nocam 8y ago
Why are these ads fixed on ukulele music?

64 points by mmq 8y ago

What will happen to Starship Technologies? Both robots are very similar in pictures. Wasn’t Estonia good enough market for robotics startup?

matthewfelgate 8y ago
They are still going and expanding. They are on US college campuses and in Milton Keynes, UK.
robk 8y ago
It's hard to believe there's no IP issues as that Amazon one looks JUST like the Starship model.
- Fricken 8y ago
  There's plenty of prior art for boxy 6-wheeled robots. Pepsi also has a boxy 6-wheeled delivery robot: https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/snacks-wheels-pepsico-tests-driving-robot-delivery-60135284 https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/snacks-wheels-peps...
- withhighprod 8y ago
  There’s for sure no IP issue. That’ll be the first thing Amazon checked during acquisition and it’s a pain in the ass for someone undergone it.
- Twirrim 8y ago
  Even if they were, like at almost every major company, engineers in Amazon are told _not_ to look at patents at all, ever. The way the patent system in the US is set up, there's a huge financial difference (orders of magnitude, IIRC) between "accidental infringement" and "wilful infringement". If your engineers have never gone looking for patents, it can't be argued that you wilfully infringed on existing patents, should it ever go to court.
  - sib 8y ago
    > The way the patent system in the US is set up, there's a huge financial difference (orders of magnitude, IIRC) between "accidental infringement" and "wilful infringement". It's up to 3x ("treble damages") and the US Supreme Court lowered the standard for granting increased damages not too long ago. https://www.jonesday.com/Supreme-Court-Upends-Law-of-Treble-Damages-in-Patent-Cases-06-15-2016/ https://www.jonesday.com/Supreme-Court-Upends-Law-of-Treble-...

matthewfelgate 8y ago

So Amazon kinda lied when they said it was built with in house technology.

kkarakk 8y ago
amazon's "house" is slang for "wareHOUSE full of startups amazon bought for an aggregate purchase price of $204 million to acquire technologies and know-how to enable Amazon to serve customers more effectively"
mft_ 8y ago
If they bought the smaller company together with its IP, employees, and patent, that all becomes 'in house', doesn't it?

giorgioz 8y ago

It feels like this article is purposefully avoiding back-linking to Starship Technologies website https://www.starship.xyz https://www.starship.xyz Could have Amazon acqui-hired Starship Technologies instead of Dispatch? The reason is probably that Dispatch is backed by Andreessen Horowitz. This doesn’t feel meritocracy to me. It feels Silicon Valley is building an inner circle where they only invest in each other. Techcrunch seems part of it avoiding back-linking and SEO gains for Estonian based Starship Technologies. Is this article just content marketing to publicize Amazon and Dispatch?

nocam 8y ago

Why are these ads fixed on ukulele music?