Apple filed a revised version of its proposed answer to Lodsys in the patent infringement lawsuit the patent holder has brought against several iPhone and iPad app developers, according to Foss Patents. Lodsys recently updated its filing with the court to add new app developers, and Apple is moving forward under the assumption that it will be allowed to intervene on behalf the companies listed in the case.
Apple’s updated filing comes in response to Lodsys adding Rovio to the list of companies it is suing over in-app purchase features. Lodsys specifically mentioned the popular Angry Birds games for the iPhone, iPad and Android devices. It also added Electronic Arts, Atari, Square Enix, and Take-Two Interactive to the list of companies it is suing for patent infringement.
Apple files response in Lodsys patent infringement battle
Lodsys gained notoriety after sending letters to independent iOS app developers alleging they used in-app purchase systems they use infringe on patents it holds. After Apple’s legal team sent Lodsys CEO Mark Small a letter stating that it properly licensed the patents for itself and third parties, the company filed lawsuits against seven different developers. The list of companies Lodsys is suing has since grown to 37.
Apple responded by filing a motion to intervene in the patent infringement lawsuits on behalf of the named iPhone and iPad app developers. Apple’s legal team also filed a counterclaim asserting that it, along with third party iOS app developers, are properly licensed to use the technology the Lodsys patents cover.
The motion to intervene stated, in part, “Apple has an interest in property that is at the center of this dispute, namely, its license to the patents in suit and its business with the developers, which depends on their use of products and services that Apple is expressly licensed under the patents in suit to offer them.”
The revisions Apple filed with the court address the additional companies Lodsys has added to its growing shopping list of alleged patent infringers, although there isn’t any new wording to challenge the validity of the patents in question.
“It’s disappointing that Apple still doesn’t challenge the validity of Lodsys’s patents nor the assertion that there is an infringement,” Florian Mueller said on the Foss Patents Web site. “Apple’s license agreement with Intellectual Ventures presumably precludes Apple (and Google) from this unless they risk losing their license to those patents and potentially many others (up to more than 30,000).”
Apple hasn’t been authorized by the court yet to intervene on behalf of iOS app developers. That status could, however, be coming soon.