Some iOS developers have reportedly taken matter into their own hands, teaming up to create a joint opposition to serious legal threats coming from patent troll Lodsys which has been seeking to extract royalty fees from iOS developers small and big alike, including the likes of Atari, Rovio and Electronic Arts, the world’s biggest publisher of entertainment software on any platform. As you know, Lodsys is asserting its license to use patented in-app purchasing technology covers store owners Apple, Google and Microsoft, but not third-party developers that put their digital warez for sale on those stores. Per ArsTechnica story:
On Monday, renowned iOS developer Mike Lee announced the Appsterdam Legal Defense Team, which will be made up of indie developers fighting patent trolls as a single unit and funded by contributions from participating companies. The goal, aside from the obvious one of being free from frivolous patent lawsuits, is to become “the ants of East Texas, minding their business until someone invades their anthill.”
FOSS Patents, the intellectual property blog, reported last week that Lodsys opposed Apple’s motion for intervention. Apple’s response to Lodsys’s intimidations has been mild, to say the least. Apple filed a motion with the Eastern District of Texas to intervene as the defendant in a lawsuit from Lodsys in June. The company ambiguously asserting it might step up in defense of third-party developers targeted by the patent troll firm. Apple’s deafening silence had even prompted EFF to issue call to arms, demanding that Apple protects its developers.
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