“On June 9, 2011, Apple filed a motion to intervene in a lawsuit instigated by non-practicing entity Lodsys against various app developers. Apple argued that it has a license to the patents Lodsys is asserting, and that its developers are licensed by extension. The concept is called patent exhaustion and sometimes raises complicated legal and technical issue,” Florian Mueller reports for FOSS Patents.
“In late July, 2011, Lodsys filed its opposition to Apple’s motion for an intervention. In early August, Apple insisted that its motion should be granted. But for a long time, nothing happened with respect to Apple’s motion. In the meantime, the judge originally presiding over the case resigned,” Mueller reports. “Today, finally, Apple’s motion was granted in part: ‘Apple is permitted to intervene in this suit, but such intervention is limited to the issues of patent exhaustion and licensing.'”
Mueller writes, “I wish the app developer community luck as far as Lodsys is concerned. I saw that some of the smaller defendants, including Iconfactory, settled the dispute on undisclosed terms, presumably because they couldn’t afford the cost and deal with risk of protracted litigation. I wish the remaining defendants as well as all those facing the threat of being sued that Apple’s intervention will help to get his troll defeated.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “Fred Mertz” and “Arline M.” for the heads up.]
Related articles:
Lodsys reply to Apple uses poor evidence, may defeat case – August 29, 2011
Apple insists to intervene in Lodsys lawsuit against app developers – August 9, 2011
Indie developer organizing ‘Operation Anthill’ coalition against Lodsys, patent trolls – August 2, 2011
Way not good enough. Apple needs to refund icon factory and go after Lodsys for predatory and dishonest practices. Apple needs to bury these trolls 6 feet under, and needs to indemnify its developers in future.