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Socoder -> Off Topic -> Lodsys : We Patented Buying! |
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| Sat, 23 Jul 2011, 21:18 | |
steve_ancell
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Looks like Rovio is in for a kicking: Linkage
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| Sat, 23 Jul 2011, 21:18 | |
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CodersRule |
I hate news sites/articles that tell you about something that you think might be exciting, then don't give you any details. It's like a restaurant telling you they have a delicious food for sale, and you will love it. Then when you order it, they say 'we're all out.' It makes you wonder if the food was ever actually any good.
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| Sat, 23 Jul 2011, 21:25 | |
HoboBen
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ah... you can google Lodsys for more info, but they're basically a patent troll who go around demanding a payout for things like a button in a free version of an application that lets you upgrade to a full version. Rovio probably have the weight to get Apple on board to fight it, but smaller developers usually settle because they can't afford the legal fees. -=-=- blog | work | code | more code |
| Sun, 24 Jul 2011, 02:47 | |
spinal
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I thought you weren't allowed to claim copyright on things like that. I would have thought that the only thing they would be able to claim for would be if the they ripped off their graphics or something, game mechanics and other such things should be fine to use bay anyone. Things like 'click to upgrade' buttons have been used by almost everyone who has ever made a demo of something. Patent trolling should be outlawed world wide. Anyone who attempts to claim infringement on something they do nothing with should be stripped of there status. -=-=- Check out my excellent homepage!
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| Sun, 24 Jul 2011, 04:01 | |
rockford
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A patent is different to copyright. Lodsys are stating that they filed a patent for the mechanism behind in-app purchases, not the button itself. The button can be redesigned by anyone and not break copyright laws. However if that button is used to buy/upgrade software, then Lodsys insists that you have used the "mechanism" they patented without paying a license fee. And that they will sue you. Apple have stated that they licensed this mechanism, from Lodsys, for their developers. Lodsys say they didn't. A fight ensued and continues still. Apple do have a licensing contract with Lodsys, but Lodsys insist that the in-app mech isn't part of the license. However, it is likely that their patent is not actually valid anyway, as there may well have been prior-art (basically that the mechanism existed elsewhere before they patented it). Trouble is, you've got to prove prior-art. And nobody appears to have done that yet. Apple are fighting Lodsys, so no Apple developer (including Rovio) needs to worry, unless Apple loses. Which is unlikely to happen. The idea behind patents is sound, however the rules and laws behind patents are fundamentally broken, so that things like this can happen. |
| Sun, 24 Jul 2011, 04:05 | |
JL235
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IBM has actually already patented 'patent trolling'. One of the reasons you get a lot of these silly patents is to actually protect yourself. For example Sun Microsystems patented min and max code. AFAIK they have never sued anyone over using it, and only hold the patent to ensure no one else can. Sun and IBM also used to hold an agreement where every year they work out the difference in the number of patents, and the company with the least pays the other a large amount of money. The reason is because they almost certainly were stepping on each others patents, and this was much cheaper (and simpler) then constantly fighting through the courts. I heard that if a Sun employee registered just 3 patents in a year, then that alone makes Sun more money then the cost of their salary; justifying their employment. This sort of behaviour is also what helps to drive companies to patent more and more. There are legitimate reasons to patent software, a lot of hard work goes into building the very complex algorithms you find in the wild. But the real problem is that the US patent office will pretty much allow you to patent anything (even if it has no chance of holding up in court). |
| Sun, 24 Jul 2011, 07:23 | |
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steve_ancell
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With all these companies that keep patenting this and patenting that, one of them will probably patent suing next!. 
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| Sun, 24 Jul 2011, 12:19 | |
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steve_ancell
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They really do get up my nose, they go on as if they invented the use of computers or something!. Maybe Lodsys should be taken to court for trying to create a monopoly, isn't that what Microsoft got roasted for quite a few years back?. |
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