{"id":672755,"date":"2025-05-31T09:00:34","date_gmt":"2025-05-31T06:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/how-a-decade-old-patent-dispute-could-upend-ubers-business\/"},"modified":"2025-05-31T09:00:34","modified_gmt":"2025-05-31T06:00:34","slug":"how-a-decade-old-patent-dispute-could-upend-ubers-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-a-decade-old-patent-dispute-could-upend-ubers-business\/","title":{"rendered":"How a decade-old patent dispute could upend Uber&#8217;s business"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3df5e46e13a\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3df5e46e13a\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-a-decade-old-patent-dispute-could-upend-ubers-business\/#A_nine-year_gap\" >A nine-year gap<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-a-decade-old-patent-dispute-could-upend-ubers-business\/#The_five-patent_argument\" >The five-patent argument<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<div>\n<p id=\"speakable-summary\" class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A little-known patent infringement lawsuit could have big implications for Uber \u2014 and potentially dozens of other companies.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/gocarma.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Carma Technology<\/a>, a company formed in 2007 by serial entrepreneur and SOSV founder Sean O\u2019Sullivan, filed a lawsuit earlier this year against Uber alleging the company infringed on five of its patents that are related to the system of matching riders (or packages) with capacity in vehicles. In other words, ridesharing \u2014 a business Carma operated in some form for a decade until it changed its business model and <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>lied its tech to road-pricing services like GPS tolling and HOV verification.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Carma has requested a jury trial and is seeking a permanent injunction against the company, mandatory future royalties on any Uber products that infringe on those patents as well as damages, and other costs related to the lawsuit.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The lawsuit, which has been quietly winding its way through the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, is relatively new. The allegations have been swirling for nearly a decade.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Carma lawyers first contacted Uber about its ridesharing and ground transportation patents in 2016, according to the complaint.\u00a0That was an auspicious time for Uber. The startup, which was founded just seven years before, had shot into the stratosphere \u2014 in terms of valuation, growth, and gravitas.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Uber was <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2016\/06\/08\/ubers-66-billion-valuation-may-ride-on-shaky-foundation.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">valued at $66 billion <\/a>at the time, and had a reputation for taking big, legally sticky swings into new markets that helped it grow to hundreds of cities in the U.S., Europe, Canada, and the Middle East. It had raised more than $12.5 billion in venture capital, and was using it to launch new products and even push into autonomous vehicles.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Uber might have had the business model and the market share, but it didn\u2019t have the specific ridesharing patents, O\u2019Sullivan told TechCrunch in a recent interview. Carma does \u2014 plus a <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/gocarma.com\/patents\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">couple dozen others<\/a>. Uber was allegedly aware of that fact as early as 2015 when the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office rejected one of its applications because it ran up against existing patents held by O\u2019Sullivan and Carma, according to the lawsuit.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At least four of Uber\u2019s patent applications \u2014 and in some cases numerous revisions to those patents \u2014 were rejected between 2016 and 2019 for the same reason. The rideshare giant would eventually abandon some of those applications.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Uber still holds hundreds of other patents covering a broad swath of <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/technology\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"4\" title=\"Technology\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">technology<\/a> and ideas that have been applied to its business. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">O\u2019Sullivan argues the core service of what Carma\u2019s patents describe is exactly how the modern day ridesharing experience operates. And he contends that Uber is infringing on those patents even if the company\u2019s business model operates more like a taxi business.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The case is a complicated one, intellectual property attorney Larry Ashery told TechCrunch. (Ashery is not involved in the case.)<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat\u2019s important to understand here is Carma isn\u2019t just asserting five patents,\u201d said Ashery, whose practice is based in the Greater Philadelphia area. \u201cThey have had a very sophisticated strategy of patent procurement that they\u2019ve been working on for the past 18 years.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He noted the five patents are part of a 30-patent family that are all related and connected to the original filing date. That matters because each of the five asserted patents contains\u00a0multiple patent claims, which define the legal boundaries of the invention. These individual claims \u2014 not just the patents as a whole \u2014 are what Carma is asserting against Uber.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That means Uber will have to address and defend against\u00a0each asserted claim, making the litigation more complex and difficult to defeat, he noted. Ashery said Uber\u2019s strategy will likely be to try to invalidate these patents, which will be a challenge.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-a-nine-year-gap\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"A_nine-year_gap\"><\/span>A nine-year gap<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"709\" height=\"382\" src=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/carma.png?w=680\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1014627\" srcset=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/carma.png 709w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/carma.png?resize=150,81 150w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/carma.png?resize=300,162 300w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/carma.png?resize=680,366 680w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/carma.png?resize=430,232 430w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/carma.png?resize=668,360 668w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 100vw, 709px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><span class=\"wp-block-image__credits\"><strong>Image Credits:<\/strong>Carma<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While Carma might have been armed with these specific patents, it took nine years for the company to actually sue Uber. Bunsow De Mory, a Redwood City-based law firm,\u00a0is representing Carma in the case.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhen any business starts, it\u2019s all about just actually capturing the market and winning in the marketplace,\u201d O\u2019Sullivan said. \u201cPatents are meant to protect against aggressors from stealing the idea, but it\u2019s not the main focus of your business to get patent revenue. It\u2019s more as a protective mechanism.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Carma, he said, has been \u201cvery busy building a multimillion-dollar business and getting to profitability.\u201d But there are other reasons for that nine-year time gap, O\u2019Sullivan explained. For one, the cost.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s incredibly expensive to sue a large company over IP and Carma is a relatively small organization,\u201d he said in a recent interview. \u201cTo come up with the $10 million-plus to take on a big patent suit, which is what it takes these days, is not a small task.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">O\u2019Sullivan said the company did reach out to Uber as far back as 2016 \u201cin the hopes that they would do the right thing and license our patents.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt really took us a while to come to terms with the idea that we actually had to sue Uber in order for them to respond,\u201d he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Uber declined to comment on the lawsuit.\u00a0Uber\u2019s attorneys did make two procedural motions this week, including a sealed motion to dismiss for improper venue or alternatively to transfer venue for convenience. This procedural motion signals Uber\u2019s desire for the case to be litigated in the Northern District of California, where it is based, rather than in Texas.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Notably, the lawsuit is aimed at Uber, not Lyft or other companies using ridesharing. O\u2019Sullivan explained Carma is \u201cgoing after the biggest player first\u201d and noted that about 60 other companies are likely infringing on its patents.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-five-patent-argument\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_five-patent_argument\"><\/span>The <strong>five-patent argument<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The primary argument in the lawsuit ties back to five patents that have been granted to O\u2019Sullivan and Carma, which was originally named Avego.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It all started with O\u2019Sullivan\u2019s frustration with traffic congestion, which ultimately led to thoughts about carpooling and how an automated system using smartphones could help people coordinate rides. That idea would turn into the startup Avego and become the basis of the first patent \u2014 <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/ppubs.uspto.gov\/external\/print\/pdfRedirectDownload\/7840427?requestToken=eyJzdWIiOiI2NzQxYjdlOS00N2U1LTQzZDUtOThiNC03ODJhNDUwODlmZDciLCJ2ZXIiOiJkMjI3NjExNC0yN2Y3LTQwMmQtODczYi00NDZmMTAxMmExNjgiLCJleHAiOjB9\">No. 7,840,427<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The first patent, which O\u2019Sullivan applied for in 2007 and was granted in 2010, created a shared transport system that matches empty space in a vehicle with riders or goods. The system established a set of pick-up and drop-off points and then matched users and drivers <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/trip-and-travel\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"10\" title=\"Trip &amp; Travel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">travel<\/a>ing along a similar route.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Before the patent was granted Avego\u2019s ridesharing app debuted on Apple\u2019s App Store in 2008, the same year the iPhone launched. Avego showed off its so-called <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wired.com\/2008\/09\/demofall-2008-i\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Shared Transport app<\/a> at the DEMO conference in 2008, which showed how a driver with an iPhone 3G could use the app to accept or reject a ride request. Once accepted, the rider was notified as the driver approached and then was prompted to enter a pin code to prove their identity and authorize an electronic payment.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Avego, which would later change its name to Carma, was focused on the promotion of ridesharing (as in carpooling) and not taxis, according to O\u2019Sullivan.\u00a0The company operated the carpooling business until October 2016, when the app was withdrawn from the App store.\u00a0However, it still had other forms of ridesharing, like its partnership with Toyota, until phasing it out altogether in April 2018.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIf you look at the definition of ridesharing in federal legislation, it is carpooling,\u201d O\u2019Sullivan said, noting that Carma built up a multimillion-dollar ridesharing business in its early days.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When Uber and Lyft came in and tried to co-opt the term ridesharing to mean taxi-hailing it caused confusion in the market, prompting Carma to change its business model and apply its tech in new ways. \u201cUber and Lyft really took ridesharing in the direction of taxi services, but our company Carma didn\u2019t want to,\u201d O\u2019Sullivan said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Carma is still focused on reducing traffic congestion, but its tech is applied to a different business model. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Today, Carma uses its app to help transit authorities manage tolls and express lanes \u2014 a product line the company first rolled out in 2013. For instance, the app can be used by a driver on a toll road or even track vehicle occupancy for HOV lanes. The app is designed to get more riders into cars and reward those people by reducing tolls or giving drivers access to the HOV lane.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The idea, O\u2019Sullivan said, is to offer toll authorities a way to reduce capital expenditure by up to 20 times by not using large gantry-based infrastructure systems. And it has paid off. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">O\u2019Sullivan says Carma is profitable, although pursuing this lawsuit will cut into its bottom line. Still, he said it\u2019s worth the cost.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI think there\u2019s a danger in society where we can\u2019t rely on our patents to protect the rights of the inventors, and the patent system exists specifically to protect the rights of investors, not to reward copycats that just happen to have deeper pockets,\u201d he said, pointing to Uber\u2019s attempts at its own patents and the rejection of them by the USPTO.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe think it\u2019s something that\u2019s important to recognize that the rights of a relatively small inventor are being trampled upon. But it\u2019s not just for Carma, really. We think of this as a problem for the entire system. It\u2019s a test of whether the rule of law still applies when a powerful tech giant is involved.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMN63nwsw68G3Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/category\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" >Technology<\/a><\/span> category.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2025\/05\/30\/how-a-decade-old-patent-dispute-could-upend-ubers-business\/\" target=\"_blank\" >Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A little-known patent infringement lawsuit could have big implications for Uber \u2014 and potentially dozens of other companies. Carma Technology, a company formed in 2007 by serial entrepreneur and SOSV founder Sean O\u2019Sullivan, filed a lawsuit earlier this year against Uber alleging the company infringed on five of its patents that are related to the&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":672756,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/carma-car.jpg?resize=1200,800","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[156803,74712,73424,156804,73295,1450],"class_list":["post-672755","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology","tag-carma","tag-patents","tag-ride-sharing","tag-ride-hailing","tag-transportation","tag-uber"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/672755","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=672755"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/672755\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/672756"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=672755"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=672755"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=672755"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}