Lodsys Patents Under Attack as Legal Challenge to Their Validity Commences

[miografico]

well looks like bigger players are seeing the long term results of this being used against them and are going to shut it down early on. Assuming they get it the others can use use that as presidencies to say nope we do not have to pay you.

Not so fast! This is a gamble of time my friends...

Those with pending lawsuits in the Texas jurisdiction are not able to reap the benefits of a declaratory judgment set forth in Illinois if those suits are finished before the judgment is handed down.

If you are a small App Developer you have no choice, but to relent at this point unless Apple will pay the millions it will cost you to defend your company against patent litigation.

Apple and Google screwed the pooch BIG TIME on this one and should have opened the case for a declaratory judgment themselves making app developers a third party to that litigation.

Apple did exactly what I said was going to happen in my first post on this forum. They said in a strongly worded letter to LodSys, "We do not believe this to be the case" and left it at that.

So everyone needs to hold on with the praise of the demise of LodSys as it pertains to application developers on Apple's platform and stop inserting Apple as the savior here - that is clearly not the case as of right now.

 

[Rodimus Prime]

Not so fast! This is a gamble of time my friends...

Those with pending lawsuits in the Texas jurisdiction are not able to reap the benefits of a declaratory judgment set forth in Illinois if those suits are finished before the judgment is handed down.

If you are a small App Developer you have no choice, but to relent at this point unless Apple will pay the millions it will cost you to defend your company against patent litigation.

Apple and Google screwed the pooch BIG TIME on this one and should have opened the case for a declaratory judgment themselves making app developers a third party to that litigation.

Apple did exactly what I said was going to happen in my first post on this forum. They said in a strongly worded letter to LodSys, "We do not believe this to be the case" and left it at that.

So everyone needs to hold on with the praise of the demise of LodSys as it pertains to application developers on Apple's platform and stop inserting Apple as the savior here - that is clearly not the case of as right now.

Even if they pay at first a judgement there could be patents re invalid so the devs say then our agreement is invalid and tell them that they can see them in court.
Short term loss for the devs but what Lodsys is doing going after small devs is they know those devs can not afford the legal fees to fight but big guys have the deeper pockets to deal with the legal fees to fight a patent troll like Lodsys.

 

[miografico]

Even if they pay at first a judgement there could be patents re invalid so the devs say then our agreement is invalid and tell them that they can see them in court.
Short term loss for the devs but what Lodsys is doing going after small devs is they know those devs can not afford the legal fees to fight but big guys have the deeper pockets to deal with the legal fees to fight a patent troll like Lodsys.

Rodimus it doesn't work like that.. Lodsys set aside their prior offer of licensing and instead sued just on the basis that the technology behind the patents was being used without their licensing (permission). If you're a two man team company and now you're stuck in patent litigation - you are effectively bankrupt.

The lets make a deal time for the 7 developers we know about ended with Apple's letter. They may be out of business before anything is decided in Illinois.

This does not bode well for developing on Android or iOS unless Google and Apple step up to the freaking plate!

 

[mmcxiiad]

and the hits just keep on coming

 

[SeanMcg]

...This case is a perfect example of the need for tort reform and the mandatory restitution of legal fees in class action lawsuits by the losing party. Until that happens the US is going to continue on a downward momentum as a safe place for inovation, but unfortunately when we time after time vote for politicians who are ex-lawyers we reap what we sow.

I find it interesting that at the state level, Texas feels the same way.

For those of you who ask why go to East Texas for this, think about the type of cases that make it to the Ninth Circuit court. I make no comment on the merit of any of the cases, but you will see a radical difference. Venue shopping all around.

 

[Yuniverse]

Thomas Edison is a piece of trash. Basically stole ideas from people and then used his celebrity status to spread lies about Tesla.

I totally lost all respect for Edison when I learned about Tesla and what Edison did to him. I don't care if you invent the greatest stuff in the world, you need to have integrity to earn respect in my book.

 

[kiljoy616]

Hope they win against patent troll Lodsys.

Next step, Apple?

Well said, the biggest issue here is dam Texas get it out of there and the chanes of these troll companies to wing goes down a substantially.

 

[mcmlxix]

What's the moral of this story? Don't go hitting bee hives with a stick.

 

[kiljoy616]

I totally lost all respect for Edison when I learned about Tesla and what Edison did to him. I don't care if you invent the greatest stuff in the world, you need to have integrity to earn respect in my book.

And your point? Sorry but that what Capitalism is. He with the power and money crushes everyone else or did you forget.

Here is an excerpt from Wiki one what happen after his death, so don't just blame Edison people where just scum then as they where then.

"Soon after his death Tesla's safe was opened by his nephew Sava Kosanović. Shortly thereafter Tesla's papers and other property were impounded by the United States' Alien Property Custodian office in Tesla's compound at the Manhattan Warehouse, even though he was a naturalized citizen."

In my book Tesla was a genius in his own right, but lived in a time with racist who still regarded people from other countries as less even thought they themselves where descendants of people from other countries also. We have come a long way, but we still have a long way to go.

Maybe if he had the "Long Form Citizenship" it would have been different.

 

[miografico]

I find it interesting that at the state level, Texas feels the same way.

For those of you who ask why go to East Texas for this, think about the type of cases that make it to the Ninth Circuit court. I make no comment on the merit of any of the cases, but you will see a radical difference. Venue shopping all around.

Well, the big guys pull the same BS with district shopping - it's not just patent trolls.

Patents in general are an affront to the free market. We are led to believe that who gets to market with their invention/idea first is the victor and that is simply not the case. It's 20% the invention itself, 20% it's economic value based upon cost to produce/retail price and 60% how good you are at marketing it to your consumer.

The patent system started off as with noble intentions, but today they have two uses: for mega conglomerates to stifle inovation and for patent holding companies to simply use them as tradable securities.

I understand that everyone here does not have a degree in engineering, but do not be fooled by the propaganda rhetoric that something is a miraculous invention/piece of engineering. If I look at your mechanical arm and I say to myself if I change, this, this, this and this to make it better - how is that your invention anymore? It's not but chances are if mine is better than the original product of a major corporation - I am going to get sued.

It's more extreme in cases of software. You can make the argument that nothing has the originality in software to be able to be granted a patent -based upon the source of all software having the same root: binary. If I am not able patent an invention on top of your invention why am I able to patent software on top of an already prescribed subsystem?

 

[writingdevil]

i think you meant "bias"..but

All judges have their bais.

catering to patent trolls is a cottage industry in marshall. it's an economic boost for this small east texas town, population 24,00. if you think this is about a judge having bias, read up on it. it's about a community creating an industry.

even though federal judges have questioned results and percentage of troll wins is lower than five years ago, it still give trolls a secure place to troll from.

i was born in dallas, just spittin' distance away, as my east texas uncle likes to say, and marshall had lost its economic stability, much of it's industry and downtown shops gone, until recently. thanks to influx of out of town lawyers, business is booming again, office space rented out weekly, hotels have almost full occupancy during the week, diners selling "texas sized meals".

Ahh, those wonderful friendly church going folks. This is texas style justice at it's best !

 

[objc]

Where is Apple in all of this? Their stupid letter gave Lodsh*t the opportunity to file in the Patent Troll District of Texas. Sewell should have just filed a preemptive suit and gotten a delcaratory judgement like this company is doing, or bankrupted Lodsh*t with a long, drawn out legal process. The threatening letter just made things worse.

I'm about to submit a piece of software I wrote in my spare time to Apple's store, and this has me really thinking... that I need to spend my time thinking up stupid ***** to patent instead of thinking about model-view-controller. That way I'll have patents to use defensively against the inevitable lawsuit.

I'd rather be spending my time writing code.

 

[Ruahrc]

It's fun and all to see a patent troll company get a taste of their own medicine, and see "enemies of teh Applez" get in trouble, but seriously, what does this have to do with Apple, or macrumors? Apple is not filing the suit, it has nothing to do with Macs. At best, it should have been a page 2 story.

The hits-pandering on MR is shameless

Ruahrc

 

[objc]

It's fun and all to see a patent troll company get a taste of their own medicine, and see "enemies of teh Applez" get in trouble, but seriously, what does this have to do with Apple, or macrumors? Apple is not filing the suit, it has nothing to do with Macs. At best, it should have been a page 2 story.

The hits-pandering on MR is shameless

Ruahrc

It has a hell of a lot to do with Macs... do you like having software on your Mac? Apple paid off these trolls and now they are coming after small developers -- often the source of great innovative software. It's made me think twice about submitting software for fear of getting sued by a troll. That means less software available to you. Think about it.

EDIT: in addition, the more trolls Apple has to pay off, the more Apple products cost. That cost is built in to the cost of the products. Just because you don't see it broken out in a line-item doesn't mean it's not there. So you are indirectly paying the trolls.

 

[cmaier]

Analysis from a friend of mine

http://www.baumlegal.com/blog/

 

[iEvolution]

good night sweet lodsys.

 

[madhatter61]

Law Suites

I wonder about law suites in general. I thought our USA Constitution states everyone is considered innocent until proved guilty. With a law suite you have to prove your innocent before you are proven guilty. Therefore, Law Suites are unconstitutional.

I wonder why No-one has ever challenged the whole process. I would suggest that the entitiy wanting to sue, would have to first go before a magistrate, show evidence, pay fees before any further action could proceed.

 

[cmaier]

I wonder about law suites in general. I thought our USA Constitution states everyone is considered innocent until proved guilty. With a law suite you have to prove your innocent before you are proven guilty. Therefore, Law Suites are unconstitutional.

1) guilt/innocence is a CRIMINAL law concept, not a CIVIL law concept. If you are sued the issue is not whether you are "guilty." It is whether you are liable for whatever damages the suing party alleges.

1a) please show me where, in the Constitution, it says anything about "everyone is considered innocent until proved guilty."

2) You do not have to prove you are innocent in a lawsuit. The burden of proof is on the plaintiff, not the defendant.

3) "Suits," not "suites." Suites are interconnected rooms.

I wonder why No-one has ever challenged the whole process.

Because you are making stuff up.

 

[Rodimus Prime]

I wonder about law suites in general. I thought our USA Constitution states everyone is considered innocent until proved guilty. With a law suite you have to prove your innocent before you are proven guilty. Therefore, Law Suites are unconstitutional.

I wonder why No-one has ever challenged the whole process. I would suggest that the entitiy wanting to sue, would have to first go before a magistrate, show evidence, pay fees before any further action could proceed.

civil cases are very different than criminal cases. The rules are different.

 

[caspersoong]

Lodsys should stop this nonsense before they get seriously hurt.