In an expected move, Apple has officially filed a motion to intervene in the court cases between the Lodsys patent troll and the sued app developers. Lodsys has filed lawsuits against seven app developers from Eastern Texas, claiming that they have violated patents by using Apple’s in-app purchasing API, which Apple previously licensed from Lodsys. This ridiculous suit is designed to allow patent troll Lodsys to “double dip,” by milking royalties off of Apple and then further profiting from additional royalties they want to charge the individual app developers.
While it isn’t yet clear exactly what Apple’s role will be in the proceedings if the motion is granted, it is very likely that the company will provide both financial and legal backing to the developers in order to defeat the patent troll.
FOSS Patents has much more information on the motion, and has published a detailed article on the subject here, for those craving more information.
For the good of everyone involved, and for the future of software innovation, let’s hope Apple blows Lodsys away once and for all. This patent trolling nonsense has gone much too far already.
Article Via FOSS Patent
Photo Credit: MacStories
