ATLANTA — A retired Georgia Tech professor is suing Uber claiming the company took his patented idea.
But Stephen Dickerson isn't stopping there. In 2018, his lawyers filed a similar lawsuit against Uber's competitor, Lyft. Both suits claim the companies infringed on a patent he filed in 2001.
Dickerson said, however, he believes both Uber and Lyft could be doing much more to cut down on traffic headaches.
"My real objective is to see if we can't improve urban transportation in Atlanta," he said.
Dickerson, a professor emeritus at Georgia Tech, worked on traffic congestion when he taught there. He joined the faculty back in 1965 and, to this day, it's still a major focus for him. He's currently a board member of the newly-formed Atlanta Region Transit Link Authority also known as "The ATL."
"It is pretty widely used now, to use a cell phone to arrange and pay for a trip," he said.
Dickerson said he filed a patent in 2001 that was approved in 2004. Uber was founded nearly 8 years after he filed his patent, which is now attached as evidence in the lawsuit against Lyft.
It walks through the idea of ridesharing and boils down to this: passengers and vehicles would be tracked by their phone location. When the passenger requests a ride, available vehicles are found in the area around them. They book their trip and a driver is notified. Pick-up time is then provided.
To Dickerson's lawyers, it sounds like Lyft and Uber. So, with the latest lawsuit being against Uber, they've sued both.
On Tuesday, Uber's spokesperson said the company is "declining to comment" on the suit. Meanwhile, federal records show that Lyft has denied every allegation of infringement.
Despite the fact that his attorneys are taking both companies to court, Dickerson is a customer of both.
"Sure, I think it is a great idea," he said.
But his lawsuits are seeking financial damages for allegedly using his idea. He also believes Uber, Lyft and others could be doing more.
"Uber and Lyft, their biggest benefit, in a sense, is reducing parking with cars," he said.
Dickerson doesn't think ridesharing companies are having a huge impact on the roads. He said that too many of the rideshare cars on the road only have one passenger - or just a driver looking for passengers.
Both of the companies have pool options, but Dickerson said they aren't used often enough or effectively. He thinks that will change.
"In the next five years, or two years or whatever, it will become much more popular," he said.
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