Lodsys klagt

Patentverwalter Lodsys reicht Klage gegen sieben iOS-Entwickler ein. Damit steht das von Apple zuvor vermeintlich abgeschmetterte Drama erneut vor einem kritischen Zeitpunkt.

For the app developers who have been sued, this is now a very critical situation. As I explained in my Lodsys FAQ, patent litigation in the United States is extremely costly. The most important thing for those app developers is to clarify with Apple — and to the extent that Android apps are involved, with Google — whether they will be held harmless and receive blanket coverage including possible damage awards.

In einer erneuten Serie von Blog-Beiträgen erklärt sich Lodsys, das Unternehmen mit Patent-Portfolio aber ohne eigenes Produkt:

Lodsys chose to move its litigation timing to an earlier date than originally planned, in response to Apple’s threat, in order to preserve its legal options.

While it is true that Apple and Lodsys have an obvious dispute about the scope of Apple’s license to the Lodsys Patents, we are willing to put our money where our mouth is and pay you something if we are wrong. Therefore, Lodsys offers to pay $1,000 to each entity to whom we have sent an infringement notice for infringement on the iOS platform, or that we send a notice to in the future, if it turns out that the scope of Apple’s existing license rights apply to fully license you with respect to our claim relating to your App on Apple iOS.

(Aktuell) Betroffen sind (internationale) Entwickler der Plattformen iOS, Mac und Android: Combay, Inc. (Mega Poker Online Texas Holdem / iPhone), Iconfactory, Inc. (Twitterrific / iPhone, Twitterrific / iPad und Twitterrific / Mac), Illusion Labs AB (Labyrinth / iPhone + Android), Shovelmate (69 Positions / iPhone), Quickoffice, Inc. (Quickoffice Connect / iPhone), Richard Shinderman (Hearts and Daggers / iPhone) und Wulven Games (Shadow Era / iPhone).

Soviel zur ‚guten Stimmung‘ auf der WWDC…