Hailo Technologies LLC, a company whose name resembles that of app-enabled cab service Hailo, today filed a lawsuit against cab service Uber, alleging that Uber infringed on its 1999 patent of an “automated vehicle dispatch and payment honoring system.”
Southern California law firm Cotman IP submitted the suit in U.S. District Court for California’s Central District on behalf of Hailo Technologies. Hailo Technologies LLC does business as Bring, which is “a software solution for ride-hailing customers interested in bringing their bikes and equipment when traveling on one-way trips, or to and from drop-off and pick up points like trailheads or competition starting locations,” according to a statement from Cotman IP. The Hailo cab service left the American market in 2014 and more recently merged with Daimler’s MyTaxi.
The case concerns a patent filed more than a decade before the Hailo cab service was founded. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted the patent to Alexis Paredes of Orlando, Florida. The patent covers several steps — including asking for the number of passengers, showing destinations, displaying a fare, requesting a ride, and estimating arrival time — at least one of which Hailo Technologies says Uber infringes on.
It’s not clear how or when Hailo Technologies acquired the patent.
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Uber is also facing a patent infringement claim from Alphabet’s Waymo in the area of self-driving cars. And the company is in the middle of an investigation on sexual harassment inside the company.
Uber has not yet responded to the case, and it did not immediately respond to VentureBeat’s request for comment.
In a tweet, a representative for Daimler’s MyTaxi wrote that this article is incorrect and that “it must be a different Hailo company that filed the lawsuit.”
Here’s the original complaint:
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Update on April 22: Added comment from Daimler.
Update on April 25: Added information on Hailo Technologies LLC.
