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“SNUver

Seoul National University (SNU) and the world-leading vehicle sharing service Uber appear poised for a legal battle over the name of “SNUver,” a city-based self-driving vehicle developed by the university.

Uber is claiming copyright infringement, while SNU is decrying the “high-handed actions of a huge multinational corporation.”

“Uber sent certified mail claiming the similarity between its own name Uber and the name SNUver developed by the research team was an infringement of copyright,” explained SNU Intelligent Vehicle IT Research Center director Seo Seung-woo in a talk with reporters at on Feb. 9 at the university’s Institute of New Media and Communications.

“Uber notified us that it plans to take legal action if we use the name ‘SNUver,’ but the school replied on Feb. 8 that it could not comply,” Seo added.

“‘SNUver’ combines the initials of the university and the last syllable of ‘driver.’ Some people are using the term ‘SNUber,’ but that‘s not an official term,” Seo flatly declared.

“We’ve already told Uber on one occasion that we‘re not using the term ’SNUber.‘ For them to send us a [second] official letter telling us not to use the term ‘SNUver’ in Korean is high-handed behavior by a multinational corporation.”

After releasing the SNUver 2 in Nov. 2016, Seo and his team of researchers are planning to release the SNUvi, another self-driving car, this year. Deliberations are also underway with related government bodies including the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the National Police Agency to test-drive the self-driving cars downtown around Seoul’s Yeouido neighborhood.

Uber is a car-sharing service that was established in the US in 2009.

By Park Soo-jin, staff reporter

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