“Compared to the forceful action some other companies have recently taken against Lodsys, Google’s failure to act is a shame and Apple’s measures (a letter to Lodsys and a motion for an intervention) appear rather half-hearted so far, if not anemic,” Florian Mueller writes for FOSS Patents.
“Apple just says it has a valid contract but neither challenges the validity of Lodsys’s patents nor the infringement claim that Lodsys makes,” Mueller writes. “By contrast, ForeSee Results filed a declaratory judgment action against Lodsys in Chicago and now has a pretty good chance of being able to transfer Lodsys’s allegations against its customers adidas and Best Buy out of East Texas. ForeSee is much smaller than Apple and Google but appears to take better care of its customers in this particular context.”
Mueller writes, “I have thought about this a lot recently and I discussed it with lawyers working for major firms who frequently assist clients in such license deals. None of the attorneys I talked to knows the language of the license agreement Apple and Google signed with Intellectual Ventures while the four patents later acquired by Lodsys belonged to that entity. But they and I concur that it’s highly likely that Apple and Google are contractually precluded from challenging Lodsys’s patents because such license agreements often come with clauses under which a licensee will lose a license once he participates in an effort to invalidate any of the related patents (in addition to possibly having to pay contractual penalties).”
Much more in the full article – recommended – here.
Related articles:
The New York Times Company and OpinionLab sue Lodsys – June 14, 2011
All four Lodsys patents now also challenged in Southern California AV software maker ESET – June 13, 2011
Apple enters legal fray against Lodsys, files motion to intervene – June 10, 2011
New lawsuit may render Lodsys in-app purchase patents invalid – June 8, 2011
Lodsys sues 7 app developers in Eastern Texas; Mac and Android devs also targeted – May 31, 2011
Lodsys also threatens Android developers with legal action over in-app purchases – May 27, 2011
Full text: Apple Legal’s letter to Lodsys – May 23, 2011
Apple: iOS developers already licensed for Lodsys patents – May 23, 2011
EFF calls on to Apple defend iOS developers in Lodsys legal threats – May 21, 2011
Following Lodsys legal threats, Apple reportedly stops approving iOS apps with In-App Purchases – May 18, 2011
Lodsys defends legal threats: Apple is licensed, iOS developers are not – May 16, 2011
Lodsys threatens Apple App Store devs with lawsuit over In-App Purchases – May 13, 2011
Guys, feel free to kill this comment after you fix the headline, but this is NOT a quote from Lodsys, but by a patent review journal.
The colon is not being used as a question mark but as a separation of a title (Lodsys) and the corresponding subtitle (Apple & Google may be contractually precluded from challenging Lodsys’s patents)
You are correct in that it can be taken in the way you mention; however, MDN consistently uses : to tie the headline to an entity (RUMOR is the exception). Due to this, emmayche has a point: the headline implies the text is attributed to Lodsys.
Was this some kind of bait-and-switch tactic, where Lodsys licenses the patent to Apple and secretly holds it back from devs?
It’s an assumption, but Lodsys must have known that Apple would let iOS devs use in-app purchasing. That’s like Apple licensing a new ARM chip and arm saying, “We never knew they’d put it in a device and sell it!”
Apple didn’t get the license from Lodsys, it was from another firm, which was then acquired by Lodsys.
Apple got the license from IV, Intellectual Ventures, a company run by Nathan Myrhvold, former Microsoftian. They do some fundamental research and compile a huge patent portfolio with the sole aim of licensing. No products, whatsoever. IV sold the 4 patents to Lodsys. The question is why did they sell them?
Apple’s reaction seems just fine to me. They’re offering to step in and take over the fight. Does he really think Apple wants to be in business of invalidating software patents? That sets a bad precedent for Apple’s own patents.
As for the contract precluding Apple from helping, Apple’s patent deal wasn’t with Lodsys, it was with a company which Lodsys then acquired. I’m not a law student, so I have idea if that distinction makes any difference, but I would think it means something.
Don’t try to inject logic, or common sense into patent law. It has neither. The “spirit” of copyright law was never enrich lawyers or patent trolls, it was for the common good. In the American Corporate-police state of today patent law is used to stifle innovation and competition both of which are clearly against the common good.
Do these dumb fucks not think Apple already reviewed this? And anyone who read that letter from Apple knows it’s nowhere near “half hearted”. Apple told Lodsys in no uncertain terms that they have no case according to the Supreme Court.
Psystar talked pretty roughy too.
Ok… So the article attacks apple for not helping their devs.
Then goes on to say
“But they and I concur that it’s highly likely that Apple and Google are contractually precluded from challenging Lodsys’s patents because such license agreements often come with clauses under which a licensee will lose a license once he participates in an effort to invalidate any of the related patents”
Which if true, apple couldn’t…
But that’s fine, bash them anyway.
How about building a big beautiful Apple Store in Tyler, or wherever the Eastern District of Texas is located? Fill the jury pool with loyal Apple fans.
Sorry, but this INFERENCE article is stupid.
““Apple just says it has a valid contract but neither challenges the validity of Lodsys’s patents nor the infringement claim that Lodsys makes,”
Unlike Florian, I actually READ Apple’s letter:
(1) Apple is not challenging the Lodsys held patents because Apple considers them VALID. That’s why Apple is paying their LICENSING FEE.
(2) Apple’s ENTIRE LETTER refutes “the infringement claim that Lodsys makes” against all of Apple’s developers. And notice how Lodsys immediately stopped harassing them, knowing Apple is correct.
Go back and read Apple’s letter to Lodsys kids.
Florian Mueller has an apology to prepare. 😳
This Florian Mueller guy is an idiot! Same nonsense he wrote about Apple on the Nokia settlement.
I think he’s following an agenda to trash Apple whenever he can.
Apple has a contract with IV/Lodsys. Apple can’t just file an action against Lodsys seeking to invalidate the patents; Apple already has admitted that it thought the patents were valid by entering into the licensing agreement.
So Apple is in a tight position of wanting to help its developers, but not being able to let loose the hounds on Lodsys. Therefore, Apple has to intervene in Lodsys’ lawsuit against the developers. That is a specific legal process, the first step of which is to petition the court to permit Apple to intervene. Which is precisely what Apple has done.
Apple is basically asking the court to let it take over the defense of the lawsuit for the developers so it can beat the snot out of Lodsys in that arena. In the end, that is a much more effective response by Apple than if Apple tried to invalidate the patents it was already paying to use.
Something to bear in mind – Florian Mueller is widely regarded as a Microsoft shill. I have seen some of his other patent news articles get slammed by multiple knowledgeable commenters as massively distorted in favor of Microsoft and its patents.