Following reports on Friday that several iOS developers had received claims of patent infringement over the use of in-app purchases, Lodsys has attempted to clarify its position in a series of posts on its blog. In the posts, the company notes that Apple is a licensee, as are other large companies such as Google and Microsoft. However, it is Lodsys’ claim that its license does not automatically extend rights to Apple’s third-party developers, and that companies such as Apple cannot currently extend the rights to include independent third-party developers.
Lodsys has outlined the licensing fees that it is demanding from developers, stating that it is “seeking 0.575% of US revenue over the period of the notice letter to the expiration of the patent, plus applicable past usage.” The company estimates that a developer will pay $5,750 for $1m in revenues. Notably, the notices sent to developers on Friday morning did not include any mention of fees, indicating only that the developers had 21 days to license the technology. [via Engadget]
