Apple: App Makers don’t owe Lodsys a penny in patent license fees

Earlier this month a company called Lodsys started sending notes to iOS app developers whose apps involved in-app purchases or upgrades. Lodsys claimed these apps were using the company’s intellectual property, and that while Apple, Google, and other big companies had paid patent license fees, those licenses didn’t cover independent developers. Now Apple is entering the fray, saying that its license most certainly does cover app developers using Apple’s framework for in-app purchases.

MacWorld has the full text of Apple’s letter to Lodsys, which has also been shared with some app makers who have had run-ins with the company.  The gist of the argument is that Apple has licensed four patents form Lodsys and that the licensed products can be offered to Apple’s business partners, including app makers.

Apple is asking Lodsys to withdraw all notice letters sent to app makers… although it’s worth noting that Lodsys hasn’t actually sued anyone yet, so simply not following up on any of the notices would probably do the trick.

The ball appears to be in Lodsys’ court at the moment, but I imagine a legal battle with Apple over the issue could be quite costly.