Want in App purchases? Are you really sure you want to be sued?

[Ian Price]

iOS coders getting sent legal docs about patent infringement after making in-app purchases available in their apps.

http://www.cultofmac.com/ios-devs-under-fire-by-patent-troll-for-offering-in-app-purchases/94916


Let's hope Apple give these patent trolls a good kicking.

[MrTAToad]

Indeed!

[ampos]

Amazing

[Moebius]

It's probably a good strategy, but that's so unfairly cruel.  A link on the page even tells of another company suing devs for an "Upgrade" button! (i.e. a LINK in the Lite app to the full version on the app store...)

[Omadan]

Quite shocking to be honest. Though I would like to add that some devs have abused the system with their In App purchases.

Its the end of In App purchase, don't want it now. lol.

[bigsofty]

The patent system itself needs fixed, there are way too many simple generalised ideas patented, I see a point in the future where you will not be able to do anything without a patent infringement. It could stifle innovation eventually too.

Innovators need a method of protecting their ideas of course but there are those who are abusing the system today and this guy is one of them.

[MrTAToad]

Wave a few dollars in front of the American patent people and they will happily give you one.

Until Americans fix their patent system these things will happen more and more...  Unfortunately they wont fix it because people would complain about it - even though it would help things...

[matchy]

Unless you can contain it, you can not get a patent, copyright or trademark for something like a golf swing.

[Moebius]

Of course... but taking patents to these extremes is just wrong.

[hardyx]

Oh my God, the crazy patents about ideas. I think Apple who is offering the service and the API must to defend their system and help the developers (they pay to Apple for use the AppStore).

[erico]

Unless you can contain it, you can not get a patent, copyright or trademark for something like a golf swing.

But "contain" is still quite open to interpretations.
Somehow it all reminded me of Tesla.

[matchy]

Unless he was an artist, that's the complete opposite of Tesla. What is a more appropriate term then for golf grip example?

[erico]

Agree, but it just reminded me on a larger scale considering lawsuits and patents and power and money, nothing to do with the actual case.
What company do you guys think is suing around?

I do believe this case will get settled, it seems to me, depending on the suing company, that they want to get a share on apple by attacking their followers devs... or is just another case of unemployed lawyers...

[XanthorXIII]

Wow this is nasty. Lodsys is the one who is behind it. http://www.lodsys.com/blog.html. Looks like they had to setup a website just to handle it. Funny that they are only going to answer questions through the website. Apple, Google and Microsoft will need to get involved with this. This is going to cause a lot of harm to small developers who do not need this. Especially us.

[Slydog]

Wow, I don't get it.  I read the entire Lodsys blog.  It doesn't mention anywhere what their patent actually is.  It was patented in 1993 so must have been pretty general.

Do they have a patent on selling anything for money? No.
Do they have a patent on selling anything electronically? I don't know.
Is it only when specifically an apps sells further add-ons related to the original app?

An internet browser is technically an app, so any purchases made via a browser qualifies?

I think the answer will be first to define what the patent says.
Then change one small thing to make this patent not apply.
ie. instead of 'in-app', have a secondary app for purchasing 'add-on' contents, then it's no longer 'in-app'.

Time to get the lawyers out.
To fix a problem created by other lawyers.
Hmm, I see a pattern, and a definite solution . . . get rid of the lawyers!   

[Edit] Come on!  In-App purchases isn't even an invention.  It's just where you are selling a product from.  Can you patent selling on a street corner?  Patent blimp banners advertising products!  To what end?