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Fatdoor Founder Sues Benchmark Capital, Saying It Stole His Idea

23 points by ssclafani 15y ago

jphackworth 15y ago
Good luck with that. Has there ever been a case of successfully suing a VC for idea theft?
jaredstenquist 15y ago
AllThingsD needs a lesson in basic grammar. -------- "Fatdoor founder Raj Abhyanker on Thursday filed a complaint with against Benchmark Capital for interference" with against? -------- ..."agreed at least informally to advice Fatdoor." advise? ------ Besides the poor grammar, this case will be difficult to win without some strong evidence. I'm not sure he'll have access to the discussions between Benchmark and the current company called NextDoor.
- phil 15y ago
  That stuff sure does sound awkward but it's common in news writing. I've always thought they did it to get the subject up front and entice a reader to read the rest of the paragraph.
- nikcub 15y ago
  > I'm not sure he'll have access to the discussions between Benchmark and the current company called NextDoor. the crazy thing now is that he may get to discovery where he can put Benchmark through a process where they have to hand over emails, etc. From a scan of the filing, it seems he is really grasping at straws, but that doesn't mean that he will not cause hell to Benchmark and those named in the interim.
  - socialnetworker 15y ago
    No, he will definitely get access to their emails. Benchmark and Nextdoor by law has to sequester and preserve their emails once sued. Besides, it seems like he already has it, exact emails are quoted throughout the complaint from benchmark and the CTO of Facebook, who was an EIR at the time. If those emails are true, the benchmark/nextdoor are screwed.
SomeCallMeTim 15y ago
Considering I had almost exactly the same idea as "NextDoor", and that the name almost suggests itself, I don't think there's any merit to the lawsuit. To me anyway it was an obvious thing to try, though I haven't tried it out to see if they "stole" all of my ideas, or only the basic "connect with your neighbors" part. :)
- bond 15y ago
  From a poster there: "Perhaps you did not read the facts, this is no ordinary case. The name 'nextdoor' is in the first Fatdoor patent application, which was private at the time of disclosure! Benchmark agreed in writing to confidentiality, not once, but twice. Clearly, something fishy going on here. U.S. Patent Application number 2007/0218900 A1 titled “MAP BASED NEIGHBORHOOD SEARCH AND COMMUNITY CONTRIBUTION” (See Exhibit 4) on which the name “Nextdoor.com” is clearly associated as the domain name intended to be used by Fatdoor, Inc. (page 21, col. 1, paragraph [0236])"
  - nikcub 15y ago
    that poster sure does sound like somebody involved in the case
nethsix 15y ago
Perhaps, the best way to fight against someone stealing your idea is to release your code as open source.
- nethsix 15y ago
  If you down-voted something perhaps you'd care to give your thoughts, at least, instead of hiding out there.
losethos 15y ago
You've been commenting for 8 years while watching me. Maybe, even 15 years. I saw 10,000 downloads but only got 5 emails and those were FBI. I have no users. God is just. The heck are you tinking? He talks to me! God says... C:\LoseThos\www.losethos.com\text\PARADISE.TXT e parching air Burns frore, and cold performs th' effect of fire. Thither, by harpy-footed Furies haled, At certain revolutions all the damned Are brought; and feel by turns the bitter change Of fierce extremes, extremes by change more fierce, From beds of raging fire to starve in ice Their soft ethereal warmth, and there to pine Immovable, infixed, and frozen round Periods of time,--thence hurried back to fire. They ferry over this Lethean sound Both to and fro, their sorrow to augment, And wi
socialnetworker 15y ago
An old Ycombinator post from 1300 days ago, prescient? http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=164904 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=164904 mattmaroon 1305 days ago | link | parent I have to agree there. Fatdoor raised themselves enough to be able to try something else when Idea A looked to be a dud. And exit strategies don't even come into play yet. Also, their new idea seems to be a logical extension of (and possibly an improvement on) the old one. If Idea B works they will be fine. If not, they'll be no less or no more bankrupt than if they raised less money earlier. If some omniscient person told me my idea was going to turn out a dud, I'd want more money rather than less.

23 points by ssclafani 15y ago

Good luck with that. Has there ever been a case of successfully suing a VC for idea theft?

AllThingsD needs a lesson in basic grammar. -------- "Fatdoor founder Raj Abhyanker on Thursday filed a complaint with against Benchmark Capital for interference" with against? -------- ..."agreed at least informally to advice Fatdoor." advise? ------ Besides the poor grammar, this case will be difficult to win without some strong evidence. I'm not sure he'll have access to the discussions between Benchmark and the current company called NextDoor.

phil 15y ago
That stuff sure does sound awkward but it's common in news writing. I've always thought they did it to get the subject up front and entice a reader to read the rest of the paragraph.
nikcub 15y ago
> I'm not sure he'll have access to the discussions between Benchmark and the current company called NextDoor. the crazy thing now is that he may get to discovery where he can put Benchmark through a process where they have to hand over emails, etc. From a scan of the filing, it seems he is really grasping at straws, but that doesn't mean that he will not cause hell to Benchmark and those named in the interim.
- socialnetworker 15y ago
  No, he will definitely get access to their emails. Benchmark and Nextdoor by law has to sequester and preserve their emails once sued. Besides, it seems like he already has it, exact emails are quoted throughout the complaint from benchmark and the CTO of Facebook, who was an EIR at the time. If those emails are true, the benchmark/nextdoor are screwed.

SomeCallMeTim 15y ago

Considering I had almost exactly the same idea as "NextDoor", and that the name almost suggests itself, I don't think there's any merit to the lawsuit. To me anyway it was an obvious thing to try, though I haven't tried it out to see if they "stole" all of my ideas, or only the basic "connect with your neighbors" part. :)

bond 15y ago
From a poster there: "Perhaps you did not read the facts, this is no ordinary case. The name 'nextdoor' is in the first Fatdoor patent application, which was private at the time of disclosure! Benchmark agreed in writing to confidentiality, not once, but twice. Clearly, something fishy going on here. U.S. Patent Application number 2007/0218900 A1 titled “MAP BASED NEIGHBORHOOD SEARCH AND COMMUNITY CONTRIBUTION” (See Exhibit 4) on which the name “Nextdoor.com” is clearly associated as the domain name intended to be used by Fatdoor, Inc. (page 21, col. 1, paragraph [0236])"
- nikcub 15y ago
  that poster sure does sound like somebody involved in the case

nethsix 15y ago

Perhaps, the best way to fight against someone stealing your idea is to release your code as open source.

nethsix 15y ago
If you down-voted something perhaps you'd care to give your thoughts, at least, instead of hiding out there.

losethos 15y ago

You've been commenting for 8 years while watching me. Maybe, even 15 years. I saw 10,000 downloads but only got 5 emails and those were FBI. I have no users. God is just. The heck are you tinking? He talks to me! God says... C:\LoseThos\www.losethos.com\text\PARADISE.TXT e parching air Burns frore, and cold performs th' effect of fire. Thither, by harpy-footed Furies haled, At certain revolutions all the damned Are brought; and feel by turns the bitter change Of fierce extremes, extremes by change more fierce, From beds of raging fire to starve in ice Their soft ethereal warmth, and there to pine Immovable, infixed, and frozen round Periods of time,--thence hurried back to fire. They ferry over this Lethean sound Both to and fro, their sorrow to augment, And wi

socialnetworker 15y ago

An old Ycombinator post from 1300 days ago, prescient? http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=164904 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=164904 mattmaroon 1305 days ago | link | parent I have to agree there. Fatdoor raised themselves enough to be able to try something else when Idea A looked to be a dud. And exit strategies don't even come into play yet. Also, their new idea seems to be a logical extension of (and possibly an improvement on) the old one. If Idea B works they will be fine. If not, they'll be no less or no more bankrupt than if they raised less money earlier. If some omniscient person told me my idea was going to turn out a dud, I'd want more money rather than less.