Earlier this month, a company by the name of Lodsys began to threaten legal action against countless iOS developers regarding the issue of in-app purchasing. Despite the confusion regarding their actions, the company maintains that its determined to avoid being denied any and all royalties that are rightfully due to them. The whole issue ends up being another patent claim. Lodsys’ patent portfolio is being used as part of an overall solution and they are seeking to be paid for the use of patent rights by the accountable party. Shortly after the claims were made, developers began reporting their receipt of threatening letters from Lodsys – correspondences that alleged patent infringement on the part of developers receiving the letter. The developers were given three weeks to license the technology through proper channels and if they fail to comply, Lodsys says legal action will be pursued. Apple has remained quiet on the issue throughout the month of May until now. Just recently Apple formally reached out to Lodsys in request that they back off and stop sending threatening letters to app developers. “Apple is undisputedly licensed to these patents and the App Makers are protected by that license,” says Bruce Sewell, Apple Senior Vice President and General Counsel, according to The Loop. “Thus the technology that is targeted in your notice letters is technology that Apple is expressly licensed under the Lodsys patents to offer to Apple’s App Makers,” Sewell added. “These licensed products and services enable Apple’s App Makers to communicate with end users through the use of Apple’s own licensed hardware, software, APIs, memory, servers, and interfaces, including Apple’s App Store. Because Apple is licensed under Lodsys’ patents to offer such technology to its App Makers, the App Makers are entitled to use this technology free from any infringement claims by Lodsys.” It is highly unlikely for Lodsys to simply go quiet into the night even though Apple has now stood up for itself and for its developers. Stay tuned for more news and info on the topic by following us on Facebook, Twitter and/or by subscribing to our RSS Feed. Read More Authors: