Apple Granted Limited Permission to Intervene in Lodsys Case

Last year, patent holding firm Lodsys took on app developers using Apple's In App Purchase system for iOS, suing a number of large and small developers over their implementation of the feature in their apps. Apple stepped forward to assist its developers by claiming that its existing licensing arrangement with Lodsys protected developers, but Lodsys has persisted in its efforts to require licensing by the developers as well.

lodsys edison quote
In mid-June, Apple filed a motion to intervene in Lodsys' lawsuits against the developers, seeking to officially represent itself as both a defendant in the case and a plaintiff asserting counterclaims against Lodsys. Lodsys opposed the motion, and there has been little news on the progress of the lawsuits over the past nine months.

FOSS Patents now reports that Apple has just been granted limited permission to intervene in the case, with a judge allowing Apple to participate with regards to licensing arrangements.

In early August, Apple insisted that its motion should be granted. But for a long time, nothing happened with respect to Apple's motion. In the meantime, the judge originally presiding over the case resigned. Today, finally, Apple's motion was granted in part: "Apple is permitted to intervene in this suit, but such intervention is limited to the issues of patent exhaustion and licensing."

Judge Rodney Gilstrap concluded that Apple was entitled to intervene, and in any event, a permissive intervention (one that the court can allow in its discretion) was also an option.

While some of the defendants have already settled with Lodsys, it now appears that Apple will have an opportunity to demonstrate for the court that its licensing agreements with Lodsys preclude the patent holder from also demanding royalties from developers using the intellectual property already licensed by Apple.

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Top Rated Comments

chrono1081 Avatar
169 months ago
Please Apple Legal Team, beat the **** out of these trolls.
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
camnchar Avatar
169 months ago
Apple doesn't invent the apps in its store
Apple does not have a quote from Edison next to their logo.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dwman Avatar
169 months ago
Is Lodsys really quoting Edison??:confused: Last I checked, Lodsys didn't invent of the things they're suing over. They're just hoping for a quick payday by extorting developers.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
koruki Avatar
169 months ago
Is Lodsys really quoting Edison??:confused: Last I checked, Lodsys didn't invent of the things they're suing over. They're just hoping for a quick payday by extorting developers.

They picked the worse person to quote too lol.
Tesla > Edison
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ciociosan Avatar
169 months ago
I for one hope Apple rips them to pieces. Patent hogs like these have absolutely nothing to contribute to the industry and their very existence makes a complete mockery of intellectual property laws.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
SPUY767 Avatar
169 months ago
Says who?
Patent law. If Company A licences patent 101 for use in their component 18b, the patent holder of 101 is not allowed to sue company C who used component 18b in their widget 19.2 class C. If patent law worked like that, no one would ever get anything done and we'd probably live like we did in the 18th century.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)