Samsara sues rival over dashcam, fleet-tracking technology

Samsara (Pre-Reincorporation)

24/01/2024 15:18

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      Samsara said Motive Technologies used its platform to take
confidential info
    

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      Lawsuit accuses Motive of using Samsara's tech to mimic
its
business
    

  
    By Blake Brittain
       Jan 24 (Reuters) - Internet-of-things company Samsara
 IOT.N  sued rival Motive Technologies in Delaware federal court
on Wednesday, accusing it of copying Samsara's patented
technology to create its own competing products.
    San Francisco-based Samsara, which provides sensors and
other IoT-related products to manage vehicle fleets and
industrial operations, said Motive employees made fake accounts
on its platform to steal information and used Samsara's
technology to imitate its business. 
    "To stay afloat in the market, Motive, unable to succeed
based on any real innovation of its own, has instead relied
almost exclusively on copying Samsara," the complaint said.
    Motive, which rebranded from KeepTruckin in 2022, is also
based in San Francisco and also specializes in dashcams and
fleet-management products. Representatives for Motive did not
immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit. 
    Samsara, which went public in 2021 with venture capital
backing from Andreessen Horowitz, said Motive employees accessed
its platform more than 20,000 times between 2018 and 2022. The
complaint includes a screenshot from a Samsara dashcam that
allegedly shows Motive's CEO and another executive studying its
technology.
    According to the lawsuit, Motive "doubled down" on its
copying after Samsara confronted the company. Samsara also said
that Motive began to "mirror" it in 2022, mimicking its business
model and copying its mission statement, tagline and blog posts
for advertising.
    The lawsuit also accused Motive of false advertising,
alleging it commissioned and relied on misleading studies to
compare the rivals' dashcams.
    Samsara asked the court for an unspecified amount of
monetary damages and court orders blocking Motive's alleged
patent infringement and false ads.
    
    The case is Samsara Inc v. Motive Technologies Inc, U.S.
District Court for the District of Delaware, No. 1:24-cv-00084.
    For Samsara: Ellisen Turner, Ali-Reza Boloori, Joseph Loy,
Joshua Simmons and Jeanne Heffernan of Kirkland & Ellis
    For Motive: attorney information not yet available

 (Reporting by Blake Brittain in Washington)