iOS developers threatened by Lodsys legal notice wished Apple could bail them out of the imbroglio. And, now they can breathe easy as Apple has finally responded regarding iPhone developers being sent legal notices by by patent holding firm Lodsys for patent infringement and demands for licensing. Apple’s General Counsel Bruce Sewell has sent a letter to Lodsys claiming that iOS developers are “undisputedly licensed” clearly indicating that Apple will back developers and will take steps to protect their interest.

The full text of Bruce Sewell was posted by Macworld. Here are some key excerpts from the letter-

• Apple is undisputedly licensed to these patents and the Apple App Makers are protected by that license. There is no basis for Lodsys’ infringement allegations against Apple’s App Makers.
• First, Apple is licensed to all four of the patents in the Lodsys portfolio. As Lodsys itself advertises on its website, “Apple is licensed for its nameplate products and services.” Under its license, Apple is entitled to offer these licensed products and services to its customers and business partners, who, in turn, have the right to use them.
• Second, while we are not privy to all of Lodsys’s infringement contentions because you have chosen to send letters to Apple’s App Makers rather than to Apple itself, our understanding based on the letters we have reviewed is that Lodsys’s infringement allegations against Apple’s App Makers rest on Apple products and services covered by the license. These Apple products and services are offered by Apple to the App Makers to enable them to interact with the users of Apple products—such as the iPad, iPhone, iPod touch and the Apple iOS operating system—through the use or Apple’s App Store, Apple Software Development Kits, and Apple Application Program Interfaces (“APIs”) and Apple servers and other hardware.

iPad and iPhone developers can read the full text of the letter here.

Source- Macworld

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