In the latest filing by Lodsys, in response to the Apple motion to intervene in the Lodsys v. Combay case, Lodsys gives every indication “it is in a panic to keep Apple from intervening,” according to Groklaw (http://macte.ch/nCRi4). Much of the document is redacted, “but despite that fact we can glean the sense that Apple’s entry into the lawsuit spoils Lodsys’s entire theory of the litigation, at least with respect to the Apple (and likely Google) developers,” the article adds.
Lodsys is suing some iOS developers for using in-app purchasing systems that it claims violates patents it owns. The patent holding firm has been targeting small iOS developers with notices of patent infringement for providing in-app purchase and/or Apple App Store purchase links within their apps.
The company said developers had to obtain a license within 21 days or face the prospect of a lawsuit. Lodsys has been criticized by some for targeting app and website publishers instead of Apple itself.
However, Apple’s legal department has come to the defense of iOS app developers with a letter to Lodsys regarding its patent dispute with app developers. In the letter to Lodsys, Bruce Sewell, Apple senior vice president and general counsel said:
“Apple is undisputedly licensed to these patents and the App Makers are protected by that license. “Thus the technology that is targeted in your notice letters is technology that Apple is expressly licensed under the Lodsys patents to offer to Apple’s App Makers,” he added. “These licensed products and services enable Apple’s App Makers to communicate with end users through the use of Apple’s own licensed hardware, software, APIs, memory, servers, and interfaces, including Apple’s App Store. Because Apple is licensed under Lodsys’ patents to offer such technology to its App Makers, the App Makers are entitled to use this technology free from any infringement claims by Lodsys.”
— Dennis Sellers