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The makers of several iOS applications have received cease and desist letters over the use of in-app purchasing, from parties who claim the feature infringes on an existing patent.
Computer LogicX, which makes Mix and Mash and Mix and Mash LITE, as well as developer James Thomson who makes PCalc and DragThing have received letters threatening legal action if the upgrade feature is not removed. One of the developers has identified the sender of the letter, while the other is not yet naming names.
In Computer LogicX's case, the U.S. patent is No. 7,222,078, which Macrumors tracked back to being owned by holding firm Lodsys. That patent, entitled "methods and systems for gathering information from unites of a commodity across a network" was acquired by the firm in 2004, and deals with the set up and completion of a transaction.
A snippet from the 7,222,078 patent attempts to sum up what the invention's about:
"Our app, Mix & Mash, has the common model of a limited free, lite, version and a full version that contains all the features," Gloess told the site. "We were told that the button that users click on to upgrade the app, or rather link to the full version on the app store was in breach of US patent no 7222078, we couldn't believe it, the upgrade button!?!"
Lodsys did not immediately respond to a request for comment on if it was targeting other developers.
As for Thomson, he has not yet officially named the party who sent him the cease and desist, except to hint that it might too be Lodsys.
Apple introduced in-app purchase in early 2009, later enabling the feature to work inside of free applications near the end of the year. The feature was designed to add more flexibility to app upgrades, as well as simplify the process of publishing two versions: a free and a paid, into a single free version that could be upgraded with additional functionality.
Developers can design the button, or user interface to enable that upgrade in any manner they see fit, though the pop up notification about the content, and account confirmation mechanism to actually make the purchase are a part of iOS itself, making it unclear why these infringements are not being aimed at Apple, which makes the OS.
This is not the first patent-infringement pressure Lodsys has put on others. Earlier this year, the firm took aim at a number of tech companies including Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo, Lexmark International, Novell, Canon U.S.A. and others over a patent pertaining to printer software.
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Computer LogicX, which makes Mix and Mash and Mix and Mash LITE, as well as developer James Thomson who makes PCalc and DragThing have received letters threatening legal action if the upgrade feature is not removed. One of the developers has identified the sender of the letter, while the other is not yet naming names.
In Computer LogicX's case, the U.S. patent is No. 7,222,078, which Macrumors tracked back to being owned by holding firm Lodsys. That patent, entitled "methods and systems for gathering information from unites of a commodity across a network" was acquired by the firm in 2004, and deals with the set up and completion of a transaction.
A snippet from the 7,222,078 patent attempts to sum up what the invention's about:
"Simply put, this invention helps vendors and customers by transforming their learning cycle: It compresses the time and steps between setting business objectives, creating effective products and services, and improving them continuously. It also alters their roles: Customers become partners in the improvement process along with vendors and distributors."
Rob Gloess of Computer LogicX weighed in on the matter in an e-mail to Macrumors, saying the patent holder was taking aim specifically at upgrade mechanism. "Our app, Mix & Mash, has the common model of a limited free, lite, version and a full version that contains all the features," Gloess told the site. "We were told that the button that users click on to upgrade the app, or rather link to the full version on the app store was in breach of US patent no 7222078, we couldn't believe it, the upgrade button!?!"
Lodsys did not immediately respond to a request for comment on if it was targeting other developers.
As for Thomson, he has not yet officially named the party who sent him the cease and desist, except to hint that it might too be Lodsys.
Apple introduced in-app purchase in early 2009, later enabling the feature to work inside of free applications near the end of the year. The feature was designed to add more flexibility to app upgrades, as well as simplify the process of publishing two versions: a free and a paid, into a single free version that could be upgraded with additional functionality.
Developers can design the button, or user interface to enable that upgrade in any manner they see fit, though the pop up notification about the content, and account confirmation mechanism to actually make the purchase are a part of iOS itself, making it unclear why these infringements are not being aimed at Apple, which makes the OS.
This is not the first patent-infringement pressure Lodsys has put on others. Earlier this year, the firm took aim at a number of tech companies including Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo, Lexmark International, Novell, Canon U.S.A. and others over a patent pertaining to printer software.
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