Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) lost their two-year battle against Lodsys in hopes to keep their third-party developers safe from patent trolls. The case was thrown out by Judge Rodney Gilstrap from East Texas. The iPhone maker hoped they could stop Lodsys from litigating small development companies without taking the consideration of patent-holders to settle the cases.
Apple saw these lawsuits as significant threats
Two years ago, Lodsys started to offer settlements outside of court to small development companies which allegedly infringed on the patent that covers the concept of in-app purchases. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) then saw these lawsuits as significant threats in their development ecosystem. They licensed the parent company of Lodsys, Intellectual Ventures. The Cupertino-based tech giant then claimed Intellectual Ventures gave them permission to offer licensed services and products to customers.
Apple’s most recent motion was filed on September 18th
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s most recent motion was filed on September 18th, in which they explained that Lodsys’ main purpose is to buy time so they can continue to hold up application developers for settlement claims that Lodsys has zero right to. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) added that the judicial economy is served as it allows the case to be heard.
Earlier this summer, the White House announced plans to prevent patent trolls from extorting money from the inventor. This included executive actions as well as legislative priorities to improve the technology industry in the United States.
Steve Jobs initially showcased the patent in 2007
In other Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) patent news, a German court rejected a patent for touchscreen photo managing. The reasoning behind this is that the late Steve Jobs demonstrated the invention prior to the filing of the patent. This patent is one of several of the bouncing effects on the iOS. Steve Jobs initially showcased the patent in 2007 prior to filing it. This means that the demonstration was used as prior art and it shows the innovation existed before the patent was filed.
