Patent dispute pending
Lodsys has filed suit against a number of developers a week earlier than it previously suggested, the decision apparently driven by "Apple's treat." The claim takes on a number of app developers, across various platforms (including iOS and Android), which Lodsys claims have infringed upon its patents, naming five iPhone applications, one android and iPhone application and one iOS and Mac application.
Explaining why it had chosen to sue developers sooner than it previously said it would, Lodsys explained in a blog post: "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." That 'threat' would be Apple's announcement that it considered all the iOS developers targeted by Lodsys covered by Apple's own licensing agreement with the patent-holder, and its promise to defend app makers against litigation - hardly a threat so much as Apple standing by its developers.
However, according to Lodsys contrary to Apple's claims that it's own licencing agreement also covers developers for its platform "Apple's claim of infallibility has no discernable basis in law or fact." So sure of this is Lodsys that it "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." This promise applies only to iOS developers, so the other developers targeted in Lodsys' lawsuit won't be able to claim any such compensation if Lodsys is proved wrong.
The debate as to whether Lodsys is in the right or wrong here (and the greater argument over the intricacies and insanities of patent law in general) is less interesting than the action Lodsys has chosen to take. As the Foss Patents blog says, having failed to encourage Apple to pay-up to end this debate, Lodsys is instead hitting Apple (and to a less extent Google) where it will eventually hurt - its third party developers, the money-makers of the platform.
This issue is unlikely to be resolved quickly, and which could end up setting a precedent for future litigation against smartphone application developers. If Apple can't guarantee the blanket patent licensing it says it can (attractive to developers for whom understanding the full intricacies of patent licensing is an unwanted burden) it's possible that developers will shy away from the platform
