Question
Why didn't Uber or Airbnb patent their process to prevent copy cats from emerging? Or did they get the patent but others found smart ways to get around the patent?
Answers: 2 public & 0 private
It's not just 'wanting to patent', its also about proving to the USPTO that your invention has not been shown/patented before (Prior Art) and is not obvious. The idea 'per se' is probably not patentable ("I'll rent you a room/give you a ride"), but there are probably a lot of details about how their system manages loads, etc., that are.
BTW, AirBnB has five published patent applications, so they did try...:-)
LuF
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