Samsara vs. Motive: telematics tech battle

Samsara contends that Motive closely monitored the company's patented innovations and resorted to deceptive measures to replicate them.

Samsara Inc., a mobile telematics provider, has filed a lawsuit against Motive Technologies Inc. for alleged patent infringement, accusing them of covertly stealing patented technologies over the years.

The lawsuit, filed in a Delaware court, aims to halt Motive’s unauthorized use of Samsara’s technology, address deceptive advertising, and fraudulent access to Samsara’s systems. Samsara alleges patent infringement, computer fraud, and deceptive advertising, seeking punitive damages and compensation.

In the lawsuit, Samsara contends that Motive closely monitored the company’s patented innovations and resorted to deceptive measures to replicate them. The company also stated that it had attempted for over a year to address Motive’s behavior before resorting to litigation. However, Motive’s leadership has allegedly refused to acknowledge their actions, using this time to persist and escalate their tactics.

Motive Technologies Inc. has not commented on the current lawsuit filed by Samsara. It’s noteworthy that this is not the first time the company faces legal accusations. In October of last year, Omnitracs filed a similar patent infringement lawsuit against Motive, to which Motive responded with a counterclaim in December.

According to Samsara’s lawsuit, Motive, originally founded in 2013 as KeepTruckin, initially offered an electronic logbook for trucking companies. However, by late 2019, KeepTruckin decided to shift its focus, developing systems to integrate physical operations and create AI tools to automate workflows, entering the same market previously pioneered by Samsara.

In 2021, Samsara alleged that KeepTruckin introduced a product called AI Dashcam, similar to Samsara’s dashboard camera launched years earlier. The lawsuit claims that KeepTruckin’s AI Dashcam, like Samsara’s, used an AI processor vision algorithm to detect unsafe drivers and alert them in real-time.

The lawsuit alleges that Motive, using various personnel and fictitious names and companies as cover, made efforts to obtain information about Samsara’s products and services. This included accessing their platform, obtaining Samsara’s hardware, and communicating with customer service representatives.

In a statement, Samsara revealed that activity logs showed Motive employees surreptitiously viewed Samsara’s dashboard over 20,000 times between 2018 and 2022. The lawsuit states that Motive’s behavior only ceased after Samsara discovered it and deactivated the account.