Are you a small developer who’s received a threatening letter from Lodsys over its alleged patent on in-app purchases? Wondering if you’ll have to go to court, and how you’re going to pay for all that? Two such developers, Villian and Iconfactory, have decided to pool their resources and seek counsel in the eventuality that they may have to fight Lodsys in court.
Apple, for its part, has spoken out against Lodsys, and contacted developers to reassure them that Apple is looking into it. But they stopped short of saying that they would cover any legal costs incurred, should Lodsys decide to sue these independent developers.
Dane Baker, CEO of Villian, is reaching out to other developers who may want to join the group:
Villain received an infringement notice and we disagree with it. We’re asking all iOS developers who received similar notices from Lodsys to get in touch with me to discuss pooling resources in the event of a lawsuit. Any interested developers can e-mail me at dane@villainhq.com.
Hopefully it won’t come to that. Developers have until June 3rd to respond to Lodsys’ letter, so there’s still some time for this to be resolved before any legal action. No doubt Apple is vigorously doing all it can to stop Lodsys, and prevent this from going to court.
Article Via TUAW
