

California man sues Uber claiming it stole ride-sharing idea - QUFB
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/15/uber-secrets-lawsuit-idUSL1N0Y619720150515

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sschueller
If Halpern really did share his prototypes etc with Kalanick then it is quite
unethical what Kalanick did but I doubt there is legal recourse. Then again I
wouldn't be surprised when it comes to Travis's ethics.

This does give founders food for thought to be less open and protect their
ideas until they have something solid. NDA's don't work but you can try to
keep a low profile as much as possible.

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webjprgm
It also points out that execution is more important than the idea. Halpern
could have also built an Uber-like service, since it sounds like he had a
prototype of one already, and beat them fairly in the market. But since he
failed now he is whining about it.

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mikeyouse
Some funny quotes;

> At the time, unlike the persona portrayed today of a dismissive and
> aggressive mogul, KALANICK was an approachable fellow entrepreneur who had
> been humbled by failure. (#71)

..

> Following KALANICK’s assurances of confidentiality, HALPERN shared the
> Celluride concept, described its architecture, and showed KALANICK the
> interface sketches and designs as well as a working cell phone demo. HALPERN
> also gave KALANICK the Celluride Brochure and showed KALANICK the Celluride
> slide presentation that he would show investors and potential partners or
> team members. (#78)

..

It sounds like there's a bit more here than the early press was hinting at..
If the emails back all of it up, it seems that Halpern was developing this app
for a few years, showed prototypes and business plans to all of the founders
and VCs behind Uber immediately before they launched their competing service.
I bet there's going to be a very large settlement coming his way...

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malkia
Not a lawyer, but this seems like trolling (I could be perfectly wrong here,
it just feels this way).

Was there a patent there?

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Animats
Thanks to the crackdown on business method patents, the Uber concept probably
isn't patentable in the US.

~~~
alienasa
And rightfully so. Providing a marketplace to connect drivers to riders is not
an "invention". Surge-pricing is an attempt to create well known market
dynamics, but again, not an invention.

