Apple allowed to intervene in Lodsys patent case
Last year, patent holder Lodsys filed lawsuits against iOS developers including James Thomson, Patrick McCarron, IconFactory, Combay, Rovio and more. Apple stepped in and filed a motion to intervene on June 9, 2011. The motion was finally granted this week, says a report in FOSS Patents.
Lodsys asserts that these developers and others infringe on U.S. Patent No. 7,222,078 which describes "methods and systems for gathering information from units of a commodity across a network." Apple argues that developers are protected from lawsuits because Apple already pays Lodsys a licensing fee which covers third-party developers in the iOS App Store. Lodsys vehemently disagrees and claims each developer must negotiate an agreement on an individual basis.
