Lodsys sues Angry Birds, SIMS, Atari, Square Enix, 2K Sports

By Rene Ritchie
last updated

Lodsys, the troll previously suing independent iOS and Android developers for infringing on a fax-machine era patent they claim covers in-app transactions such as upgrades and upsells, has now modified the suit to go after Angry Birds developer Rovio, SIMS developer Electronic Arts, Atari, Final Fantasy maker Square Enix, and 2K sports developer Take-Two Interactive. That takes the number of developers involved in the suit from 7 to 11.

FOSSPatents points out that this might mean:

  • Lodsys isn't afraid to go after "deep pocket" developers.
  • They're going after these developers for Android as well as iOS
  • They don't seem intimidated in the least by Apple legal
  • Apple and Google, due to their existing licenses, might be precluded trying to invalidate Lodsys' patents as a means of interceding.

Apple is still trying to intervene based on patent exhaustion, though that may or may not prove successful. Some developers, meanwhile, have removed their apps from the US App Store to avoid any potential suits.

For more, listen to our special edition iPhone Live 160: World War Patents.

[FOSS Patents]

Rene Ritchie
Rene Ritchie
Contributor

Rene Ritchie is one of the most respected Apple analysts in the business, reaching a combined audience of over 40 million readers a month. His YouTube channel, Vector, has over 90 thousand subscribers and 14 million views and his podcasts, including Debug, have been downloaded over 20 million times. He also regularly co-hosts MacBreak Weekly for the TWiT network and co-hosted CES Live! and Talk Mobile. Based in Montreal, Rene is a former director of product marketing, web developer, and graphic designer. He's authored several books and appeared on numerous television and radio segments to discuss Apple and the technology industry. When not working, he likes to cook, grapple, and spend time with his friends and family.

7 Comments
  • NOT COOL
  • Those birds will be more angry...
  • Everybody wants a piece!
  • Who exactly are Lodsys???? And why are they doing this??
  • Chris Lodsys is stupid. Keep suing more major companies and they'll just pool their resources and drag this out for 15 years, by which time Lodsys will be nothing but a bankrupted firm. Simultaneously, thousands of independent interests will be trying to invalidate the patents (which shouldn't be too hard given that they are both extremely vague and subverted by prior art).
  • Lodsys will go bankrupt from these suits... idiots... suing large companies isn't the same as individual developers.
    I'll be glad to see them go.
  • You clearly know nothing about the legal profession