Lodsys Responds to Apple, Files Lawsuits Against App Developers

[cmaier]

As I understand it, Lodsys, the patent holder is suing the 3rd party developers for using Lodsys' patented technology within the developers apps and to be clear, it's usage for one developer (if not all the developers) is in the in-app upgrade button.

So, if they "win" this lawsuit, wouldn't Lodsys then be able to sue every consumer that clicks on that upgrade button for using that patented technology without first setting up a licensing agreement with Lodsys? No? Ahh yes, the developer is incorporating the patented technology into their product to sell to the end-user. Ok so that's clear...

Actually it's not clear. Whether the end-users could be sued or not depends entirely on the language of the claims. If the end-user is performing the claimed method, the end-user could be sued (in such a scenario the developers would be sued for inducing the direct infringement by the end-users). If the claims are system, rather than method, claims, then the developer is "manufacturing," selling, or offering to sell the infringing system (the software), and the end-user is not performing any acts of direct infringement and could not be sued. Off hand I cannot remember if the claims of this patent are method, system, or both.

If Lodsys wins this lawsuit, wouldn't that mean a company such as Intel, could now sue every PC builder/modder who resells these custom built PCs for not contacting Intel first and establish a license for using any motherboard that uses any Intel chipset that comes soldered onto the motherboard by the motherboard manufacturer not including the CPU? It's assumed that you paid for the CPU chip directly and therefore any licensing fee is included that purchase.

Probably not. There is a principle in patent law called "exhaustion." It's a very complicated body of law but essentially the idea is that, subject to various exceptions, if the patent holder sells a device embodying the patent to customer X, the patent holder's rights with respect to that device are "exhausted." Customer X is free to sell the device to Person Y, etc. But it gets complicated if Intel sells A, B, and C devices to customer X. Only by combining A, B, and C together is Patent Z infringed. Then what happens? There are recent court decisions about this sort of stuff (Quanta Computer v. LG Electronics, TransCore v. ETC).

 

[miografico]

I am a die hard capitalist. (When it's not crony capitalism i.e. bailout capitalism) I am also an App Developer.

You want to know what fixes this patent troll crap completely? Patents should not be able to be treated like stocks and bonds and put up for sale to anyone with the highest bid. To file a patent as an inventor you should not have to be a performing entity (sell products), lets face it a lot of inventors are poor and cannot put their idea to use, but if you want to sell that patent you should only legally be able to do so to a performing entity. Nine times out of ten the original filer/inventor is not the one suing.

And for all this BS I hear about Lodsys has their rights and should have their day in court - all of you saying that are egregiously stupid. You have no freaking clue what it costs to get into a patent dispute and there is a reason why the bum chose the developers he chose. They cannot defend themselves!

This isn't Apple vs Microsoft, it's not Apple vs. Samsung this is akin to Walmart vs. Joe's Groceries. It's not criminal, but it certainly is predatory and disgusting.

Mr. Lodsys is not seeking half a penny on the dollar he's seeking a gigantic payout from Apple by forcing their hand holding hostage tiny companies. He's a human piece of garbage who has never invented a damn thing in his life.

A company whose sole purpose is holding patents are an affront to the patent system and the free-market system in general - and thus should be illegal.