A federal judge in Connecticut has dismissed a lawsuit filed by local taxi and limousine companies aimed to stop an upstart ride-booking company that customers hire through a smartphone app.

About a dozen Connecticut-based taxicab and livery companies and the industry's Connecticut trade association filed a federal lawsuit last year in an attempt to block Uber Technologies Inc. from doing business in the state.

Uber uses online platforms to connect passengers with drivers using their personal, noncommercial vehicles, and both say they are not taxi dispatch services because they don't own vehicles, book rides in advance or employ drivers.