Lodsys Aims to Shed Light on Legal Threats to iOS Developers

[Michael Essany]

Lodsys is aiming to clarify its recent warnings to third-party iOS developers via the company's official blog. As you may have heard, last week a little known company named Lodsys began threatening legal action against a slate of iOS developers regarding the issue of in-app purchasing. Despite the confusing circumstances surround why Lodsys would threaten iOS devs, the company maintains that its determined to avoid being denied any and all royalties that are rightfully due to them.

Ultimately, it appears that this matter boils down to a simple patent claim. "Lodsys' patent portfolio is being used as part of an overall solution and we are seeking to be paid for the use of patent rights by the accountable party," the company says. In a somewhat unorthodox analogy, the folks at Lodsys provided the following comparison for illustration of their point.

It is the owner of the hotel who is responsible for the overall service (value proposition) that guests pay for, not the owner of the land that the hotel may be leasing, not the travel agent that sold the reservation, not the manufacturer of tools such as hammers, nor the provider of materials such as nails or steel beams, which may be used in building the hotel; nor is it the outsourced linen washing service or the architect of the building who is responsible.

As far as anyone can tell, Lodsys has likely secured licensing agreements with Apple. But the company seems to suggest that developers lack the legal authority to offer in-app purchases via Apple's established framework without also licensing the right to do so from Lodsys. As it now stands, Lodsys is looking to collect royalties from independent iOS developers directly, not from Apple.

Just days ago, developers began reporting their receipt of threatening letters from Lodsys - correspondences that alleged
patent infringement on the part of developers receiving the letter. Devs were given three weeks to license the technology through proper channels. If they fail to comply, Lodsys says legal action will be pursued.

Source: Lodsys

[maaaslo]

Wtf???

[Striknine]

Wow this may Come as a surprise.

[aimetti]

the patent system needs a total reworking.
pathetic.

[RICO_]

Wtf???

That's what she said!

[jeffhesser]

so what are the odds that apple will offer any kind of protection to these devs? pretty useless framework if that 30% cut they take isn't covering the necessary licensing.

[andypropaganda]

so what are the odds that apple will offer any kind of protection to these devs? pretty useless framework if that 30% cut they take isn't covering the necessary licensing.

I completely agree. This will be absolutely ridiculous if Apple doesn't step up and step in to do something about this. Clearly this company is just being a money hungry biatch.

[coolguy742]

I completely agree. This will be absolutely ridiculous if Apple doesn't step up and step in to do something about this. Clearly this company is just being a money hungry biatch.

You're so right, greed is what makes the economy go round these days and it's nothing short of bullcrap


Sent from my iPod touch using ModMyi

[PatrickGSR94]

I completely agree. This will be absolutely ridiculous if Apple doesn't step up and step in to do something about this. Clearly this company is just being a money hungry biatch.

The same has been said about the company of Apple itself.

[ty22]

Why are they not taking this up with apple instead of the devs?

[theconejo]

Maybe all dev's will realize and push for releases on cydia and such... Is there this sort of legal thing going on in the jb world?

Although if it isn't then I guess it would start, not to mention the pool of people you would lose, this based on the fact that only a small percentage of people are actually jb with access to cydia.

[alexevo]

This would all be solved if there were some sort of time limit on when you could sue for patent infringement. You can't wait and see if people make a buttload of cash before you decide to sue them. Plus, simply purchasing in-app shouldn't be able to be patented unless the method used was patented. If that is the case then other methods obviously should not fall under that patent just because they achieve the same goal.

Lastly, if Lodsys is already licensing to Apple and Apple didn't due its due diligence in warning developers that in-app purchasing may require an additional license from Lodsys then Apple should be culpable because the developers have no idea that Lodsys has this patent, what the patent covers, or the fact that there are licensing requirements for what they intent to do.

[Cer0]

Lastly, if Lodsys is already licensing to Apple and Apple didn't due its due diligence in warning developers that in-app purchasing may require an additional license from Lodsys then Apple should be culpable because the developers have no idea that Lodsys has this patent, what the patent covers, or the fact that there are licensing requirements for what they intent to do.

Nicely put.

[TheDirtyDiddler]

Oh Cydia... Land that I love.