Posts Tagged: "Zipcar"

Ford filed a similar patent application more than a year after Getaround filed the ‘891 patent application and last November Ford was issued U.S. Patent No. 8880239, entitled Credential Check and Authorization Solution for Personal Vehicle Rental. This patent protects a vehicle having a processor configured to receive rental data which originated from an administrative system remote from the vehicle, specify credentials for authorized users and a threshold speed, enable keyless drive away if the credentials have been satisfied and issue an administrative warning if the vehicle exceeds the threshold speed. It could be argued that the only major difference between the Ford and Getaround technologies is the fact that Ford manufactures a vehicle and can thereby hide their “abstract idea” of personal vehicle rental requests under the guise of vehicle innovation, which Getaround cannot do.