“Wired.com just reported that Google filed reexamination requests with the USPTO late on Friday, seeking the invalidation (or at least narrowing) two of Lodsys’s four patents: the ‘708 patent and the’565 patent, both of which were used in litigation against app developers,” Florian Mueller reports for FOSS Patents.
“While I agree with Google’s senior vice president and general counsel Kent Walker that those patents should never have been issued, I don’t consider those reexamination requests — unless they will be accompanied by more forceful and useful measures very soon — a serious commitment to supporting Android app developers against trolls,” Mueller reports. “If this is all that Google does, it’s too little, too late, and calling it ‘half-hearted’ would be an overstatement.”
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Mueller reports, “Let me make this very clear: reexamination of Lodsys’s patents certainly could have positive effects further down the road. It’s possible (though by no means certain) that Lodsys’s ongoing litigation might be stayed – however, as Wired’s article explains, this happens in the Eastern District of Texas only ‘around 20 percent of the time.’ In other words, there’s an 80% likelihood, just based on statistics, that Google’s reexamination request won’t delay Lodsys’s litigation.”
Read more in the full article here.
Related articles:
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Indie developer organizing ‘Operation Anthill’ coalition against Lodsys, patent trolls – August 2, 2011
Lodsys sues Rovio, EA, Atari claiming patent infringement – July 21, 2011
Lodsys sues The New York Times Company and five others in East Texas – July 5, 2011
Lodsys asks for two more months to answer Apple’s motion to intervene – June 22, 2011
Lodsys: Apple & Google may be contractually precluded from challenging Lodsys’s patents – June 16, 2011
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