If you thought that the news program that Apple was backing its iOS developers would scare off thepatent - infringement allegement of intellectual property firm Lodsys , mean again . On Tuesday , Lodsys file suit against seven developers for patent violation in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas . The company also once again took to its Website to clarify its position and restate its earlier claims .
This latest volley in the three - way struggle between Lodsys , Apple , and third - party developers comes less than a week before Apple give up off its annual Worldwide Developers Conference . On Tuesday , Apple announced it would show off the latest translation of its wandering operating system of rules , iOS 5 , at a Steve Jobs - run keynote . On its internet site , Lodsys said that it go its litigation timetable up “ in response to Apple ’s scourge , ” so that it can “ preserve its sound choice . ”
lodge case in Texas is unsurprising , as that peculiar territorial dominion is often considered to be friendly to plaintiffs in noetic property contravention . Legal blogFOSS Patents reportsthat the ship’s company process by Lodsys include , among others , The Iconfactory , Quickoffice , and Illusion Labs ; in an interesting move , Lodsys alleges that the rape of two of its patents happen in not just iPhone apps , but Android and Mac apps as well . At present , it appears that at least a few of the developers who received letters from Lodsys have break away this rung of suit ; several of the named defendant are base outside of the U.S.
The legal action mechanism accompany a serial of back - and - Forth River claims and counterclaims by Lodsys and Apple . In its letter to Lodsys last week , Apple maintained that the party “ is unarguably licence to these patents and the Apple App Makers are protected by that license . ” Despite Apple ’s position , Lodsys has gone onwards anddisputed the claim anyway , tell that it has been engaged in secret treatment with Apple and that “ there was clearly disagreement on the interpretation of the license terms of Apple ’s arrangement . ”
On its Website , Lodsys also read that it has send off a varsity letter to Apple moderate its full legal post , but can not publish the communication , as it take confidential information from Apple . Macworldhas achieve out to Apple for gossip , but has not meet a reply as of this piece of writing .
Lodsys seems pretty certain of its position however . The party has promised thatit will devote $ 1000to any developer that it has accuse of violation if it is determined that Apple ’s permit report third - party developers . Then again , that fee may blanch next to any costs incur during a prolonged sound battle .
And the cerebral dimension firm is n’t restricting its manoeuvre to the court , either . Of the several situation to Lodsys ’s Website on Tuesday , the most interesting is belike “ What is the platform hope ? , ” which veers into a more philosophical realm :
The real argumentation is what promise [ Apple , Google , and other platform supplier ] are fix to 3rd company Developers who choose to develop applications on that platform and what kind and CRO of IP rights will be included ( or more potential , not ) .
The post reads as a somewhat gawky attempt to drive a wedge between Apple and its developer by propose that not only is Apple ’s liability in sound topic limited , but also that the company does n’t care about its developers .
That ’s a spirit reflected in another of Lodsys ’s posts , address the query of“Why are you aim Apple developers or Android developer ? Why are you picking on small developer who can not defend themselves ? ” , in which Lodsys evoke that its motivation is simply “ to get paid for [ its ] rights , ” whereas there ’s “ a more complicated Seth of motivations ” for the weapons platform providers and developer .
Whether these sorts of psychological argument will make up off — presumably by convincing developer to license Lodsys ’s patent — is unclear , but by taking the matter to the royal court , Lodsys has clear said that the next move belong to Apple and developer .
