
Retired Atlanta professor sues Uber and Lyft, says they used his idea - hsnewman
https://www.ajc.com/news/retired-atlanta-professor-sues-uber-and-lyft-says-they-used-his-idea/gk3CAIXtGHhVq6vfJqhGcO/
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vikramkr
Isn't patent trolling great? Someone who got an overly broad patent and didnt
do any of the work to build a company now gets to waste everyone's time by
claiming ownership of the idea, as if the idea of ridesharing is so
revolutionary, and try to use it to get money he doesnt deserve. Especially
insane considering that smartphones didnt exist in 1999 in the way that made
uber and Lyft possible, and that the infrastructure required is far far more
than just an app that connects drivers to riders (think about the payments
infrastructure, pool, maps integration, etc)

~~~
eesmith
How do you assess that it's "overly broad"?

His patent doesn't cover the concept of ride sharing. The patent even mentions
that ride-sharing already existed.

Smartphones didn't exist, but the concept doesn't require smartphones. It can
be done with "radio-capable personal digital assistants, and two-way pagers",
which did exist.

The patent also isn't only about an app that connects drivers to riders. It
includes payment infrastructure and pools. Map integration is not covered -
that would likely count as a patent-able extension to this patent.

------
eesmith
Seems to be patent US6697730B2 -
[https://patents.google.com/patent/US6697730B2/en?inventor=St...](https://patents.google.com/patent/US6697730B2/en?inventor=Stephen+Dickerson&oq=Stephen+Dickerson)

> A communications and computing based urban transit system based on digital
> cellular communication, GPS locating technology, and digital computers to
> provide real-time command and control of passengers and vehicles with the
> objective of minimizing the social costs of urban transportation.

