The dust has yet to settle on the first wave of patent disputes targeting iOS and Android app developers, but that isn’t stopping Lodsys, LLC from reloading and firing a second round, this time aimed squarely at the video game giants who hang their shingle on these platforms.
MacRumors is reporting that Lodsys, LLC is back for more, armed with a new set of patent complaints aimed at mobile video game giants such as Electronic Arts, Atari and Rovio, makers of the wildly successful Angry Birds. (As if they need any more reasons to be angry!) According to FOSS Patents, Square Enix and Take-Two Interactive have also been added to the amended complaint.
“Defendant Rovio has infringed and continues to infringe, directly, indirectly, literally, under the doctrine of equivalents, contributorily, and/or through the inducement of other, one or more claims of the '565 patent,” the amended Lodsys complaint against Rovio reads. “Rovio makes, sells, uses, imports, and/or offers to sell infringing applications, including but not limited to Angry Birds for iPhone and Angry Birds for Android, which infringe at least claim 27 of '565 patent under 35 U.S.C. § 271.”
The addition of these five video game companies to the patent lawsuit means that Lodsys is now targeting 37 entities, “with defendants ranging from small developers to major firms such as HP, Best Buy, The New York Times and EA.” MacRumors also notes that Lodsys has dropped Vietnamese developer Wulven Games from their suit, for unspecified reasons.
Lodsys, LLC claims that iOS and Android developers are in violation of patents they hold regarding the use of in-app purchasing and upgrade links. For their part, Apple has publicly stepped forward in defense of their developers, claiming that the company has “indisputably licensed” the intellectual property in question from Lodsys, including the third parties creating apps for the iOS platform.
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