Definition - "Patent Troll"

"PATENT TROLL" - Any party that intentionally misconstrues the claims of their patent to assert it against another. A patent troll does not have to be a non-practicing entity (NPE) or in any particular industry, all that is required is an intentional misconstruing of the claims in an attempt to extort money from another.

Disclaimer



Disclaimer - All information and postings in this blog are provided for educational purposes only. Nothing in this blog constitutes legal advice and you should not rely on any information herein as such. If you do not have a signed engagement agreement with me, then you are not represented by me and you should retain your own attorney for any legal issues you are having.

Monday, June 13, 2011

Thoughts on Apple's Intervention in Lodsys Lawsuit

If you have not heard, Apple has filed a motion to intervene in the Lodsys patent suit against application developers.  See here, here, or for additional analysis see here

I like Apple's move, as it puts pressure on Lodsys and tries to bring themselves in as a defendant with enough resources to fight Lodsys properly.  However, everyone should understand that Apple is not providing ALL application developers full indemnification.  Apple explicitly states this in the motion to intervene. (I'll add the citation later)  (It is not known if Apple has made individual agreements with the application developers already sued.) This is a smart business move by Apple because it is in their best interests to make sure Apple does not have an implied obligation to provide indemnity anytime an application developer is sued or threatened.  In some situations, an application developer may get sued, and unlike the Lodsys patents, if the patents could be infringed solely by the application, Apple will probably not want to provide indemnification or get involved.  (Note:  These possible situations are typically addressed in a standard indemnification agreement.)

In other suits,  Foresee Results has filed a declaratory judgment action against Lodsys, asking for a finding of non-infringement and invalidity of Lodsys's patents.  See here.


-USPA

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