Certainly App Store developers are paying close attention to the legal happenings surrounding the Lodsys situation. Lodsys has threatened to sue some App Store developers over seemingly trivial patent claims. Here's some more reading material if you have a vested interest in the outcome.
FOSS Patents provides a nice FAQ-style question analyzing the situation between Lodsys and App Store developers.
This business model of targeting the defenseless is not completely new. Since the cost of successfully fending off patent assertions is high, many patent holders set their financial demands at a level below the cost of litigation. And unfortunately there's a whole lot of patent assertion happening all the time against the defenseless, i.e., those who wouldn't be able to afford a lawsuit due to the costs and risks involved.
Meanwhile, Engadget offers their own analysis with the help of the EFF's Julie Samuels:
The fact that Google and Microsoft and Apple have taken licenses on this already doesn't say that the patent is a great patent, but it does show that at some point Apple decided it was more financially beneficial to take the license than to litigate. Because Apple has already made that value judgement before, they might make it again.
Top Rated Comments
But thats only wild guessing ...
Any thoughts?
I wonder if the argument turns to whether or not Apple's license does cover the developers... Is it licensed for Apple Apps or in the Apple API/development tools. :rolleyes:
Lodsys can use that decision by Apple as justification when claiming to developers that the patent applies to iOS in-app purchases. If that claim could have been proven false in court then Apple's litigation could have protected its developers from this situation.
I also wonder if Apple could have licensed the technology on behalf of its developers.
Hope this works out so as to NOT degrade new products coming to the market.