Armin Samii, the developer behind the Google Chrome “UberCheats” extension, said that Uber filed a copyright claim against his app to remove it from the company’s app store.
The app sought to help Uber drivers determine if they had been correctly paid for their trip. In a complaint to Google that was forwarded to Samii, the rideshare app claimed that UberCheats was violating its trademark.
“The application uses, without authorization, the mark Uber, a trademark owned and controlled by Uber Technologies, Inc,” Uber wrote in its complaint, which Samii shared with Motherboard. “We ask that the app immediately cease using any Uber trademarks or any other name or mark which is likely to lead consumers to mistakenly believe that its products or services are associated with Uber or authorized by Uber.”
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Uber filed a false trademark claim against UberCheats, so it's been taken off the Chrome app store. They claim that people might confuse it for an actual Uber product. https://t.co/F94TLbZH7o
— Armin Samii (@ArminSamii) February 16, 2021
The app, said Samii, was inspired by his time as an UberEats delivery person. On one trip, in particular, he said he was taken on a 4-mile delivery but was paid for just 1 mile. Indeed, Uber admitted in 2017 to underpaying its drivers in New York.
Uber admitted to having underpaid its drivers for as many as two years. In compensation, it paid drivers $900 each.
Samii’s app, then, sought to validate rates as calculated by Uber against Google’s directions to ensure that the company isn’t simply drawing a straight line between the driver and the destination.
Although UberCheats could relaunch under a new name, Samii wants to fight the infringement claim saying he has appealed to both Google and Uber.
We have reached out for comment from Uber and will update the story if we hear back.
