Uber Rent Car Hire Coming to UK to Help Social Distancing

Uber is rolling out  Uber Rent, its car hire offering in the UK, The Verge reported. It will do so in collaboration with rental firm CarTrawler, in a bid to help maximize social distancing,

Users will be able to select the new “Uber Rent” option from within the app and then browse available cars for their chosen date and location. Rental cars can then be picked up from the “hundreds” of car hire company pickup locations. The UK launch follows trials in France and Australia. The process works a little differently from Uber’s bike or scooter rentals. Although Uber says you’re technically able to make your booking at the same time as you pick up the vehicle (as you would when renting one of its Jump bikes in the UK), it encourages you to make car reservations at least 24 hours in advance. Rentals can be cancelled up to 48 hours ahead of collection and Uber is promising discounts on rentals of up to 25 percent.

Big Tech Sues Patent Office Over Legal-Related Rule

Apple, Cisco, Intel, and Google have sued the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office over it’s recent rule that it can refuse to adjudicate patent claims while litigation about them is pending in court.

The rule, which was introduced by the USPTO in March and became final in May, deals with the agency’s obligations around inter partes review (IPR) — a sort of expert-court process for assessing whether patent claims are valid. USPTO says deferring to an ongoing court case is more efficient than setting up a parallel review internally.

Apple Owes Retail Workers Pay For Time in Security Screenings

Apple owes retail workers pay for the time they spent in security screenings at the end of their shifts. That’s according to a ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, issued Wednesday, Reuters reported.

A unanimous three-judge panel reversed a judge who had tossed the case and ordered him to enter summary judgment for the plaintiffs, after the California Supreme Court in response to certified questions in the case said in February that time spent undergoing security checks is compensable under state law.