Lodsys

Lodsys' patent attack now targets Best Buy, Adidas

Lodsys, the company pursuing high-profile patent infringement cases against many in the tech industry, has broadened its legal attack to include Adidas, Best Buy, and other big-name companies.

Lodsys' previous targets include iOS and Android developers, Samsung, Hewlett-Packard, Brother, and Motorola. Now the list is a lot longer, with a Friday filing naming Sam's Club, Best Western, Black & Decker, the Container Store, the Teaching Company, Vitamin Shoppe, Vegas.com, Adidas, CVS, and Best Buy.

The move isn't a total surprise. Lodsys sent Adidas a letter on April 19 saying the sports shoe and apparel maker had infringed … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1487: What, you don't Beluga? (Podcast)

Carriers are freaking out because they might not be able to keep charging you exorbitant rates to send tiny little data bits over the same network all the other data goes over--i.e., texting is dead. Hurry up and die, texting. Also, how Windows Phone 7 might catch up to iPhone by 2015 (we're skeptical) and why not to tag yourself in 250 pictures of you and your ex-girlfriend. We'd have thought the answer was obvious.

Apple tries to intervene in Lodsys lawsuit

Apple is seeking to put its legal weight behind developers targeted by Lodsys, a company that's taken aim at app makers on both Apple's iOS and Google's Android for infringing on patents it owns.

The iPhone maker yesterday filed a motion with the Eastern District of Texas to intervene as the defendant in a lawsuit from Lodsys that targets seven developers. Apple also used the filing to provide a counterclaim that both it and its developers have the license rights to use the technology. That filing was dug up by FOSS Patents.

"Apple has an interest … Read more

Lodsys patent target bites back

Lodsys, the patent holding company that has been accusing iOS developers of infringing its in-app purchasing IP, today finds itself on the receiving end of a legal complaint: a request for declaratory judgment brought against it by a company whose customers it's been threatening.

And interestingly, these customers aren't app developers, they're large companies like Best Buy and Adidas.

Filed in Chicago federal district court by online customer satisfaction survey outfit ForeSee Results, the document accuses Lodsys of sending infringement claim letters to certain of its clients in an attempt to muscle them into licensing deals. From … Read more

Android Atlas Weekly 51: Happy birthday, dear Android Atlas! (Podcast)

Android Atlas is one year old! We celebrate by doing the same thing we do every week, discussing the latest Android news. The new Google Wallet may already have a security hole and malware is becoming an issue for the platform. Meanwhile, game developers say that Android is to PC gaming what iOS is to consoles. Holy fragmentation, Batman! Does that mean that apps should now carry system requirements? In other news, Nvidia shows off its ambitiously named Project Kal-El and we overstep dual cores, going straight to quads! All of that, plus the answers to your Android OS questions … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1480: WHO: cell phones as cancer-causing as coffee (Podcast)

The World Health Organization semi-confirms what we've all suspected for years: it's probably not a good thing that mobile phones cause the cells in your brain to wiggle and change. Also, Lodsys continues its patent trolling unfettered by matters of conscience or threatening letters from Apple, and the PBS hackers turn their attention to Sony, as if Sony didn't have enough problems, already. --Molly

Lodsys: iOS developers still on the hook for licenses

The coast may not be clear for developers who thought that Apple could protect them against a company seeking to tax developer revenue.

A week after being told by Apple that its license of four patents covered iOS developers who use in-app purchasing, patent holdings group Lodsys has said that's not the case.

In a post on the group's blog this afternoon (via Macrumors), the group said that after reading Apple's claims as well as consulting "several legal experts," developers who have implemented in-app purchasing are still on the hook to pay Lodsys a percentage … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1478: Zuck Hunt (Podcast)

Without Molly or Brian, CNET's podcast of indeterminate length is commandeered by indeterminate hosts. CNET's Donald Bell and Eric Franklin steer the Buzz Out Loud ship into the shark-infested waters of poached PayPal employees and Twitter CEOs. Plus, HTC is paying Microsoft for Android phones, the International Space Station reaches completion (sorta), and Mark Zuckerberg hunts for his own lunch.

Lodsys targets Android dev over in-app purchase

Lodsys, the company that's gone after a number of Apple iOS developers for allegedly infringing on its patents, is now doing the same to at least one developer on Google's Android platform.

Cult of Mac has dug up a developing discussion thread on Google's Android developer forums, noting that at least one Android developer has been targeted by the group over the use of in-app purchase within their application.

"We recently implemented in-app purchases for our Android application and several weeks later we received a letter from Lodsys, claiming that we infringed on their patents," … Read more

Developers pleased with Apple's Lodsys response

Apple today finally responded to Lodsys, the group that's been targeting iOS developers for licensing fees on their use of in-app purchase (IAP). While Lodsys has not yet issued its own response, many developers are now breathing a sigh of relief based on Apple's stance, which states that developers are fully protected against any extra fees by the company's patent licensing terms.

"DEAR STEVE I WANT TO KISS YOU HUGS CHOCK," tweeted Craig Hockenberry, the principal and senior software engineer at The Iconfactory, the makers of the popular Twitterific app. Hockenberry had posted a public letter … Read more