Hardware 2.0

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

Developers hit by legal threats over iOS in-app purchasing upgrades [UPDATED]

By Adrian Kingsley-Hughes | May 13, 2011, 7:00am PDT

Summary: Two iSO developers - James Thomson and Patrick McCarron have reported receiving threatening legal letters from an as yet unnamed third party.

This is interesting … and worrying for iOS developers using in-app purchase in their apps.

Two iSO developers - James Thomson and Patrick McCarron have reported receiving threatening legal letters from an as yet unnamed third party.

Thomson used in-app purchasing in his PCalc Lite app (PCalc is one of those apps that I use all the time)while McCarron used it in a game called Shanghai Mahjong.

Neither are willing to discuss the matter much as they want comment from Apple’s legal folks, but to me this smells like a patent troll.

Other iOS developers using in-app purchasing are understandably worried, such as Gedeon Maheux:

Seems there’s a patent troll about who doesn’t have the courage, confidence (or money perhaps) to go after Apple so is instead going after indie developers.

Apple needs to do the right thing here and indemnify developers why use the iOS SDK (Software Development Kit) to create apps from patent issues relating to the SDK.

[UPDATE: It is now being suggested that Lodsys LLC is the company behing the legal threats.]

[UPDATE 2: Dev Matt Braun who makes the MASH iOS game for kids has also been hit with legal threats.]

[UPDATE 3: Here's what intellectual property activist Florian Mueller had to say in an email:

"While the patent system works quite well for large players with deep pockets, little 'indie' app developers don't have the resources to defend themselves against such threats. In most cases they don't even operate under the legal umbrella of a limited liability company, so in a worst-case scenario they could be financially ruined for life if they lose a patent infringement lawsuit."

Serious stuff!]

[UPDATE 4: OK, some more information. I've receiveed information that suggests that it is indeed the Lodsys that is behind these legal threats to developers. The patent in question here is 7,222,078 (which is listed on Lodsys) 'Methods and systems for gathering information from units of a commodity across a network.' And yes, it is as vague as the title makes it sound.]

Any readers who happen to be devs having a bad Friday 13th thanks to being hit by legal threats? Let me know either in the comments of via the contact form here on ZDNet.

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Developer, Lawsuit, Apple iOS, Adrian Kingsley-Hughes, Applie iOS, Mobile Operating Systems

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes is an internationally published technology author who has devoted over a decade to helping users get the most from technology.

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So what exactly is the patent here?

MrElectrifyer 1st Jun

Buying software from within the software, that's the patent here? How generic can patents get plain

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RE: Developers hit by legal threats over iOS in-app purchases

pueblonative 13th May 2011

Stay classy, patent trolls

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RE: Developers hit by legal threats over iOS in-app purchases

tatiGmail 13th May 2011

@pueblonative simple, they are doing what Apple does. sue the little guy, like HTC.

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RE: Developers hit by legal threats over iOS in-app purchases

Pete "athynz" Athens 13th May 2011

@tatiGmail If HTC is in the wrong and using Apple tech then they deserve to be sued. If it is proved that HTC was not then that is egg on Apple's face. However that is beside the point of this article...

These guys who do not even have the cajones to say who they are and go after the smaller developers are nothing more than cowardly patent trolls.

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Opportunity

lars626 13th May 2011

This would be a golden opportunity for Apple to make some points with the developer community. If Apple's legal team were to assist in the defense against the trolls it would send two messages.
1. Apple cares about the developers (imagine that).
2. The trolls cannot pick on the little guy unless they want to deal with the 800 pound gorilla too.

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Agreed!

Will Pharaoh 13th May 2011

@lars626
And it's high time that a judge gets a chance to review this so maybe even invalidate it if they feel it should be, end this before it begins with the help of Apple.

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RE: Developers hit by legal threats over iOS in-app purchases

tatiGmail 13th May 2011

@Will Pharaoh when Apple sues, it's their rights. When somebody else sues, they are trolls. The irony.

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RE: Developers hit by legal threats over iOS in-app purchases

non-biased 17th May 2011

@tatiGmail I only see your outrage when Apple sues, not every other tech company out there since they all do it.

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RE: Developers hit by legal threats over iOS in-app purchases

michaellashinsky@... 20th May 2011

tatiGmail

These trolls suing the app developers is akin to a troll with a cellular patent suing you, your mother, and every other person, for having cell phones that use the alleged patent violation instead of trying to sue Verizon.

If there is actually a patent violation here, they should be suing Apple, not trying to extort settlements out of small app writers. I personally believe that if there were a valid patent violation, they would go after Apple. Since they are going after small time app developers, it leads me to believe they are full of crap and are trying to scare some easy money out of the little guys.

Go ahead and hate Apple if you want to, I am not that fond of them either, but try to be rational in your posts.

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RE: Developers hit by legal threats over iOS in-app purchases

Rama.NET Updated - 13th May 2011

@lars626
I totally agree. That puts Apple at the level of Microsoft when it comes to protecting its developer ecosystem unlike Google.

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RE: Developers hit by legal threats over iOS in-app purchases

timspublic1@... 13th May 2011

I don't know why everyone is calling them trolls with no information. People with VALID patents have a right to enforce them. How about we see what this is all about before calling names happy

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RE: Developers hit by legal threats over iOS in-app purchases

jessepollard 13th May 2011

@timspublic1@... No software patent is legal. It is all mathematics. Just the patent office is incompetent at mathematics.

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RE: Developers hit by legal threats over iOS in-app purchases

johnfarhat@... Updated - 13th May 2011

@jessepollard

Funny how you think "no software patent is legal" yet if Apple were the one "trolling" would you still feel that way?....this is silly to call them a patent troll with zero information on their patent. If they have a patent, it is their right to defend/enforce it. If you feel all software patent are not valid then you need to take that up with law makers, not the people who follow the rules and play by the rules. If I recall, Apply has been taking legal action against several companies for IP infringement on everything from hardware, software and even gestures (I think one of the latest is Amazon's "APP" store). Please try to elevate the course of the discussion by contributing helpful commentsNot just drinking the kool aid. And no, I don't have anything against Apple, but then I don't have anything against any company for that matter.

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Read the patent!

Tholian_53 13th May 2011

@timspublic1@...
Lawyers might twist this into what is being threatened but reading the garbage patent itself does not indicate that the patent troll would prevail.....

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RE: Developers hit by legal threats over iOS in-app purchases

Jayton 13th May 2011

@timspublic1@... Software patents are not VALID in the EU. I'd love to see the patent holder try uphold their US only patent over here. Software/Idea patents are ridiculous and should be scrapped, it would of course mean the end of an industry for many software patent lawyers.

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RE: Developers hit by legal threats over iOS in-app purchases

Pete "athynz" Athens 13th May 2011

@timspublic1@... They are cowards in my book because they do not have the cajones to say who they are. Until they reveal who they are and can prove they own the patents that were allegedly violated then they are patent trolls.

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RE: Developers hit by legal threats over iOS in-app purchases

Mythlandia 13th May 2011

@timspublic1@...
VALID is the right word.
Try reading this patent: customer's use of an application or customer's desire for a new feature within that application being reported back to the developer electronically is such a radical new feature that it is protected by this patent.
Apparently in December 2003 this was a signifcant invention that noone was doing and the concept was worthy of patent protection. Really?
Anyone heard of web support prior to December 2003? According to this patent, if the customer tells you of a bug fix or enhancement and you use this info to influence future product design - you owe them a royalty or you are infringing their patent.

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Total BS

archangel9999 16th May 2011

@Mythlandia OMG...my company's windows software did all this in the late 90s - they've got to start requiring patent clerks have at least 100 IQs - it's ludicrous there was ever a piece of paper issued on this crap

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RE: Developers hit by legal threats over iOS in-app purchases

honkj Updated - 13th May 2011

@timspublic1@... a patent troll is an entity that only buys patents, no other business. check. a patent that is from a troll that has so vague of wording as this one does, that a judge will laugh them out of court the moment it is read.. check...

yes, patent troll. every employee at the patent office that grants patents as ludicrous as this one reads, should be called in front of 500 citizens and spanked with a willow stick with 10 lashes each for just being stupid should be the order of the day.

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RE: Developers hit by legal threats over iOS in-app purchases

Michael Kelly 15th May 2011

@timspublic1@...

The fact that they do not identify themselves or the patent(s) in question automatically makes them trolls.

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RE: Developers hit by legal threats over iOS in-app purchases

ideality 13th May 2011

I think they are trolls if they are non-specific as to what patents or other IP they are claiming. If they are claiming specific IT, then companies can assess the validity of that IT, and whether there is invalidating prior art, or not. Or, that maybe even Apple could provide a simple work-around that does not then infringe.

I get the feeling that when "trolls" do not say what specifically they are claiming as IP; they are usually skating on thin ice, and want to intimidate and cash-in with weak IP; rather than subject the IP to the scrutiny of the technical community and the courts.

If you have "real quality IP" then by all means assert it. Explicitly. And be ready to withstand searches for prior art and all the other things that can ultimately make a patent invalid.

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RE: Developers hit by legal threats over iOS in-app purchases

Robert Hahn 13th May 2011

OK, now that we know it's Lodsys we can say two things:

1) Yes, it's a patent troll.
2) they are not picking small developers out of fear, or because they lack money. Lodsys has outstanding patent infringement suits against Motorola Mobility, Samsung, Lexmark, Canon, HP, and others. So they are not afraid to run with the big dogs.

Most likely they have picked "little guys" in the hopes of securing a quick win that they can use as a precedent when they do sue Apple. This suggests that they are not all that confident in their case.

Apple's best move is the same one IBM used against SCO: challenge them to a bleeding contest and see who dies first, the patent troll or the guy with $50 billion in cash.

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RE: Developers hit by legal threats over iOS in-app purchases

rengek 13th May 2011

@Robert Hahn
this is how rumors get started. Note that the update "suggests" its lodsys. You turned that statement into "now that we know its lodsys". We don't even know who suggested it or who the source is. Sheesh.

[UPDATE: It is now being suggested that Lodsys LLC is the company behing the legal threats.]

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If Google is not your friend, use Bing

Robert Hahn 13th May 2011

@rengek You can help quash the rumors! Do what I did: use your favorite search engine to find "apple plaintiff patent". Then you can avoid doing the old ass-u-me thing.

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RE: Developers hit by legal threats over iOS in-app purchases

thetwonkey 13th May 2011

@Robert Hahn These trolls can't die soon enough! They never brought anything to market, and are pretty much incapable of doing so. Their patents are generally the completely bogus software and business process patents granted capriciously by the patent office, with no basis in logic, reason, common sense, or reality. One wonders how many patent examiners were subsequently employed or otherwise rewarded by these trolls after ending their employment with the patent office. Kind of like the FCC commissioner who approved the Comcast/Universal merger then announcing her leaving to take a position with Comcast. Crooked, lying bastards, the lot of them, and if there were any justice in this world, they would be in jail or at the end of a rope. I prefer that it be the end of a rope, but life without parole in a state pen like Rahway or Attica is fine with me. BTW, there is no justice in this world, other than that which you can personally obtain at point of gun or knife.

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RE: Developers hit by legal threats over iOS in-app purchases

none none 14th May 2011

@Robert Hahn

Most likely they have picked "little guys" in the hopes of securing a quick win that they can use as a precedent when they do sue Apple.

Only a judgment can be used as precedent. The little guys will find something else to do or they will buy a license.

happy

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RE: Developers hit by legal threats over iOS in-app purchases

Jayton 13th May 2011

This ladies and gentlemen is why Software patents are a stupid idea and got rejected from the European Union. 'Merkins, just don't get freedom.

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RE: Developers hit by legal threats over iOS in-app purchases

PollyProteus 13th May 2011

@Jayton - Actually "'Merkins" in general do get "freedom". Unless you equate "freedom" with "everything should be free", and then that makes you a socialist/communist.

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RE: Developers hit by legal threats over iOS in-app purchases

DeusXMachina 16th May 2011

@PollyProteus
As usual, you misdefine the words socialist/communist.

Why do you insist on continuing to use words whose definitions you do not know?!?

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Unfortunately already the 2nd such attack in 6 weeks

FlorianMueller 13th May 2011

LodSys (if they're really the ones, and reports seem credible) is at least the second company to attack app developers. Another company, H-W Technologies, is already suing several app developers:
http://fosspatents.blogspot.com/2011/03/new-smartphone-patent-suit-also-targets.html
(The ones being sued by H-W are much larger than the ones who received letters from this other troll, but the problem is the same and patent attacks on app developers could now become a trend.)

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RE: Developers hit by legal threats over iOS in-app purchases

HackerJ 13th May 2011

The patent system is WAY too broken for one judge or trial to fix. So long as the USPTO issues retarded patents for "box that does something" there will be patent trolls and shed loads of litigation.

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Patent on IAP?

ahampson 13th May 2011

How can this even be patentable? The idea is pretty obvious (upgrade or add features, click here) and the ability to do this has been around since the shareware days.

Need to see the patent to see when it was granted, but I'm betting on tons of prior art that was just ignored.

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RE: Developers hit by legal threats over iOS in-app purchases

inkwell 13th May 2011

Lets get every manufacturer in the ring, and they can all launch patent violation suits against every other manufacturer. Then we can see who has the biggest budget and the best legal team.

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RE: Developers hit by legal threats over iOS in-app purchases

steven.quinn@... 15th May 2011

Having read the content of the 'patent' I have only one question.
How on Gods good Earth was this thing ever granted?
They are basically laying claim to the rights to any interaction between two computers...

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Troll the Trolls?

michaellashinsky@... 20th May 2011

Can someone patent the process of serving legal papers for the purpose of protecting one's intellectual property? Then the patent trolls would be violating that patent and would have to stop.