Google has finally decided to step into a patent row between Android app developers and a patent holding company, Lodsys which has launched a number of lawsuits against small developers for infringing its patents.
It is presumed that Lodsys started suing app developers as they would be more likely to capitulate due to the costs of litigation than had it directly targeted Google or any of the handset vendors directly involved in the Android OS.
Lodsys has patents that cover the use of payments within the apps themselves, a business model followed by many developers who charge for additional services within the apps.
Google has now stepped into the fray and Google senior vice president and general counsel Kent Walker told Wired.com that the company has asked the US Patent Office to reexamine two Lodsys patents that it believes should never have been issued.
Unfortunately for the app developers, reexamination requests can easily take a year to complete, and it is rare for courts to issue notices to delay lawsuits unless there is overwhelming reason to expect the patents will be overturned.
Lodsys has also been suing Apple app developers who it claims infringe its patents, although Apple has a license from the company and has argued that its license covers apps developed by outside companies, but used in its licensed smartphones.
On the web: Wired.com
