Patent troll Lodsys’ attacks upon indie iOS developers for using Apple’s in-app purchasing mechanism is a hot topic at WWDC 2011, so this news couldn’t be better timed: a Michigan law firm representing some unlikely companies with deep pockets has just attacked the validity of Lodsys’ patents.
According to FOSS Patents:
Yesterday, the aforementioned Michigan company — ForeSee Results, Inc. — filed a proactive declaratory judgment action against all four Lodsys patents. In that complaint, ForeSee Results Inc. said that Lodsys had “threatened assertion” of one or more of its four patents against ForeSee’s customers. Foresee names three examples of customers that received letters from Lodsys:
– Adidas (I have published that assertion letter on Scribd so you can take a look at it; it includes a claim chart that looks similar as the ones that many app developers received, though it relates to a different patent)
– Best Buy
– WE Energies
While a declaratory judgment against Lodsys won’t end the companies patent lawsuits, what’s interesting here is that it could shift the battle from notoriously patent-troll-friendly East Texas to Michigan. Also interesting is that even though Apple has yet to step up to protect indie iOS developers from Lodysys in court, Adidas, Best Buy and WE Energies — all companies with the resources to make their punches against Lodsys tell — have just entered the ring.
[image via OS X Daily, apparently]
