Apple preparing to intervene against Lodsys in court

Apple has taken a further step towards intervening in the legal cases brought against several app developers, which accuse the studios of infringing copyrights licensed to Apple by the Texas-based company Lodsys.

Previously, Apple had asked Lodsys to withdraw the claims, but the company continued to pursue the cases, arguing that the patents, which cover in-app upgrades and purchases, had been licensed to Apple and not its licensed developers.

Apple had argued that its agreement with Lodsys covered any App Store developers for use of the code in question, but has now seemingly expressed its willingness to fight the legal action on behalf on the companies named so far, telling courts that the developers are: "individuals or small entities with far fewer resources than Apple and...lack the technical information, ability, and incentive to adequately protect Apple's rights under its license agreement."

The filing was posted in its entirety by Florian Mueller, who sees Apple's commitment as a positive move for the smaller companies involved.

"While I don't have any confirmation from anyone that Apple has agreed to cover those defendants' costs and potential risks, it's hard to imagine how else this could work," said Mueller.

Whilst its still possible that the prospect of taking Apple on in court may not appeal to Lodsys, who have a history of litigation, the case has yet to be dropped.