UPS has partnered with medical drone startup Matternet to begin the first continuing commercial drone deliveries in the US, having made a short flight carrying a medical sample between North Carolina hospitals on 3/26/2019. Although this may be the beginning of operations in the states, both companies already have experience with drone deliveries in other countries. Matternet has previously conducted drone delivery experiments in Switzerland along with Mercedes-Benz, while UPS had partnered with vaccine nonprofit GAVI and Zipline in 2016 to deliver blood samples to remote locations in Rwanda. Matternet, in fact, already has a growing patent portfolio that focuses on drone delivery, including UAV route planning, handling payloads, and landing. This portfolio may have been one of the factors that positioned Matternet in position to form the UPS partnership and may lead to further partnerships or M&As.