Apple granted access to intervene in Lodsys legal case

Little over 10 months after Apple filed a motion requesting a role in Lodsys' litigation against a collection of app developers, the Cupertino giant has been granted access to the case.

The judge presiding over the lawsuit, in which Lodsys is suing studios for allegedly impinging on patents relating to in-app purchases and data collection, said Apple's demand would be met in part.

"Apple is permitted to intervene in this suit, but such intervention is limited to the issues of patent exhaustion and licensing," detailed Judge Rodney Gilstrap, who took charge after the previous judge resigned.

Back and forth

Apple's original motion in June 2011 was countered by Lodsys shortly after, with the company which has been widely accused by commentators of being a 'patent troll' claiming its fight was with the developers rather than platform holders.

Lodsys went on to suggest the parties it was taking action against which, amongst many small studios, also included bigger names such as EA, Atari, Square Enix, Rovio and Take-Two were capable of defending themselves adequately.

A letter from Apple published a month previous claiming Lodsys had "no basis" to take action against iOS developers had been met with a similar response.

"Developers relying on Apple's letter do so to their own detriment and are strongly urged to review Apple's own developer agreements to determine the true extent of Apple's responsibilities to them," Lodsys concluded in a post on its blog in June 2011.

License to thrill

In reply, Apple said its license lies "at the heart of this case", suggesting it would be folly if the company wasn't involved.

"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," concluded Apple in August 2011.

The extent to which Apple will be involved, however, remains unclear, with the judge merely confirming the company's right to take a role, before adding a 'permissive intervention' one the court can allow at its discretion  is also on the table.

[source: Foss Patents]