Apple demands role in Lodsys lawsuit case against app developers

It has the best technical information

It's little wonder Lodsys requested Apple be barred from its multifaceted case against developers employing in-app purchases (IAPs), given the power of its corporate lawyers.

It's the firm's view that Apple's interest in the case is purely related to its own bank balance, and that the parties Lodsys is actually taking action against – which include EA, Atari, Square Enix, Rovio and Take-Two as well as lots of smaller outfits – can adequately defend themselves.

Apple's response, however, has been to contest that notion.

As detailed by IP activist Florian Mueller on his blog Foss Patents, the company discounts any claim its concern is purely economic, and contests it is the only party with the knowledge of its own ecosystem required to defend against the Lodsys attack.

In-app purchase power

In short, Apple claims it is far more active in the in-app purchase process than Lodsys suggested, meaning it is an active party in the firm's case against iOS developers, rather than merely an interested outsider.

The company claims it is a "supplier" to developers who utilise IAPs, given it provides the framework for all such transactions.

Apple also cites an intended boycott of the firm's core products by developers owing to the Lodsys action – something that will impair its business if it isn't allowed into the case.

"Apple's License lies at the heart of this case, Lodsys has already sued numerous significant Apple customers and threatened dozens of others, and a boycott of some of Apple's core products by App developers has been proposed," Apple's reply reads.

Getting technical

Finally, Apple states its "technical information" regarding its own platform cannot be ignored.

"Although some of the new defendants may have greater resources than the original defendants, Lodsys does not contest the fact that none of the defendants have the technical information, expertise, and knowledge regarding how Apple's technology works or the negotiation and intent of the License itself to fully articulate and develop Apple's exhaustion defense," the reply concludes.

"This distinction alone is sufficient."

Lodsys isn't solely concerned with Apple's business, however, with Android developers also wrapped up in a case that, as of July, included 37 companies in all.

Apple's full brief can be read here.

[source: Foss Patents]

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