Trucking news and briefs for Thursday, Jan. 25, 2024:
Samsara claims this image is of video footage that shows Motive's CEO, Shoaib Makani (left) and Chief Product Officer, Jairam Ranganathan, driving a vehicle, testing and commenting on the performance of Samsara's products and features.Samsara
A popular tech provider in the trucking industry has filed suit against a competitor, alleging intellectual property theft. San Francisco-based Samsara, which provides ELDs, telematics, safety cameras and more, claims fleet management provider Motive Technologies Inc. has engaged in illegal conduct that includes patent infringement and false advertisement.
Samsara is asking the court to enter judgment recognizing Motive’s infringement of the company’s patents covering several of its solutions in fleet management and driver safety included within Samsara’s telematics, video-based safety and sustainability solutions, to permanently stop Motive’s conduct. The company is also requesting the court order Motive to compensate Samsara for its losses and damages under state and federal law.
Samsara Founders Sanjit Biswas and John Bicket said via statement that prospective customers would remark how similar Motive’s products appeared to Samsara's in terms of form and functionality. That escalated, the pair claimed, into "Motive deploying misleading marketing campaigns and sales tactics, which led us to take a closer look."
[Related: Trucking's State of Surveillance: Special report]
The lawsuit, filed in a Delaware federal court, states that Motive -- formerly known as KeepTruckin -- based much of its product line and even its business strategy on routinely stealing Samsara’s technologies and fraudulently accessing Samsara’s platforms. The filing asserts that Motive illegally accessed Samsara’s platform, copied Samsara’s marketing materials and made unsubstantiated advertising statements.
