Modern copyright and trademark laws are bizarre affairs. The enforcement of them is a sometimes-expensive endeavor and defending against such claims is capable of bankrupting many people and smaller companies before they are able to prove their innocence. There are entire companies whose entire purpose and profit is owning patents or trademarks and suing companies and people, getting enough out-of-court settlements to turn a regular profit.
It now seems that several companies in the mobile gaming market are being sued by one such company. Lodsys is suing Disney, Gameloft, Gamevil, and TLA Systems. Most of the patents they are accused of violating relate to in-app purchases. Apple has actually been in the process of a legal battle for quite some time, claiming that they license the patents already, so the developers creating apps for the iPhone should similarly be protected.
Apple’s court battle does not seem to be slowing down Lodsys’s lawsuit campaigns any, with more and more patent suits being filed, further supporting the claims of the company being nothing more than a patent troll. Google, for its own part, has begun a re-examination of the patents in question, which may also help fend off the patent cases, but not before this latest batch gets to court.
Published: Apr 9, 2013 06:51 pm