On May 22nd, Apple’s chief lawyer Bruce Sewell unequivocally announced that Apple’s license to the Lodsys patents gave Apple’s 3rd party developers complete and “undisputable” freedom to use the covered inventions without paying royalties or fearing lawsuits. There was a very positive reaction in the press and blogs.  Apple appeared to give the Developer community what they wanted. Unfortunately for Developers, Apple’s claim of infallibility has no discernable basis in law or fact.

The letter was very surprising as Apple and Lodsys were in confidential discussions and there was clearly disagreement on the interpretation of the license terms of Apple’s agreement.  Before, during and after these interactions, Lodsys has carefully considered this issue and consulted several legal experts to consider Apple’s claims.  We stand firm and restate our previous position that it is the 3rd party Developers that are responsible for the infringement of Lodsys’ patents and they are responsible for securing the rights for their applications.  Developers relying on Apple’s letter do so to their own detriment and are strongly urged to review Apple’s own developer agreements to determine the true extent of Apple’s responsibilities to them.

In a private communication, simultaneous to this posting, Lodsys has sent a detailed legal position on the license interpretation issue, in writing to Apple that has been previously only verbally communicated.  Apple has our permission to publish that letter, in its entirety, should developers wish to review our dispute and evaluate the risks with their own counsel.   While we have nothing to hide, we cannot unilaterally publish the letter because it refers to information that was obtained with an obligation of confidentiality to Apple and we do not have their permission to do so.

In a separate blog post, the patent holding firm has also announced that it will pay $1000 to any iPad and iPhone developer who will be wrongly targeted on the patent infringement issue. The post reads-

While it is true that Apple and Lodsys have an obvious dispute about the scope of Apple’s license to the Lodsys Patents, we are willing to put our money where our mouth is and pay you something if we are wrong.  Therefore, Lodsys offers to pay $1,000 to each entity to whom we have sent an infringement notice for infringement on the iOS platform, or that we send a notice to in the future, if it turns out that the scope of Apple’s existing license rights apply to fully license you with respect to our claim relating to your App on Apple iOS.

It seems the patent infringement issue involving Apple, Lodsys and iOS app developers is up for a long haul. Last month, Lodsys sent legal notices to iPad and iPhone developers over using its patented in-app purchasing system asking them to get licensed within 21 days. After a lot of hue and cry from iOS developers, Apple intervened and disputed Lodsys claims. Experts believe that Lodsys move to file lawsuit against iPad and iPhone developers much before the expiry of 21 day notice period is an attempt of thwart Apple’s backing developers.

Related Posts

• May 17, 2011 -- Apple studying Patent Infringement issue as more iPad and iPhone developers get targeted. (0)
• May 2, 2011 -- iPhone/iOS to Windows Phone 7 API mapping tool available for iPhone developer. (0)
• April 25, 2011 -- Incentivised app download ban may push iPhone developers to iAd. (0)
• March 23, 2011 -- Adobe AIR 2.6 SDK available for iPhone developers. (0)
• February 17, 2011 -- iPhone Developer Wary of Apple’s New Policy. (0)

According to the news reports Brian Marshall, Analyst, Gleacher & Co expects Apple’s iPad 2 to “outpace” the original model.

“Apple has such a huge lead,” said Tim Bajarin, Analyst at Creative Strategies Inc. and Rodman & Renshaw LLC and Piper Jaffray & Co. “Competitors are going to be chasing Apple for many years,” he adds predicting 500,000 units in two days for the device.

The higher sales of iPad 2 will also give tremendous opportunities to iOS developers as their market will widen. Moreover, the updated and new features in iPad 2 will allow them to develop apps that would provide better experience to users. Many game developers have also slashed the prices of their apps to lure iPad 2 owners.

The Tablet market is increasingly getting crowded with the launch of new tablets. The Mobile World congress 2011 saw a slew of announcements from leading handset manufacturers. However, if the analysts’ predictions come good then Apple’s rivals will surely have tough time competing with it.

Related Posts

• February 24, 2011 -- Good news for iOS developers as Apple to sell 30 million units of iPad 2 in first year, predicts RBC. (0)
• September 30, 2011 -- iTunes 10.5 Beta 9 released for iOS developers. (0)
• September 21, 2011 -- Appcelerator launches Open Mobile Marketplace for Android and iOS app developers. (0)
• September 19, 2011 -- Mobile Cloud Computing: Should iPhone app developers fly to the cloud? (0)
• September 16, 2011 -- Android and iPhone app developer fined for bogus claims. (0)

In other news, RBC Capital Markets Managing Director Mike Abramsky is claimed to have written a note to investors on Wednesday where he reiterated that RBC expects Apple to sell 30 million iPad 2 units between April 2011 and March 2012.

He also discussed hardware specifications in the note where he expects the next-generation iPad to include a rear and a front-facing camera, 1.2GHz processor, 512MB of RAM, and a slimmer, lighter case. However, in his note, he also predicts Apple to suffer shortage in supply of the device due to constraints in the availability of components.

If the RBC prediction comes true then it will mean bigger market for iOS developers who are feeling the heat due to growing popularity of other platforms.

Related Posts

• March 11, 2011 -- Analysts expects iPad 2 sales to touch 600,000 this weekend, iOS developers to get bigger market for their apps. (0)
• September 30, 2011 -- iTunes 10.5 Beta 9 released for iOS developers. (0)
• September 21, 2011 -- Appcelerator launches Open Mobile Marketplace for Android and iOS app developers. (0)
• September 19, 2011 -- Mobile Cloud Computing: Should iPhone app developers fly to the cloud? (0)
• September 16, 2011 -- Android and iPhone app developer fined for bogus claims. (0)

With most of the sales in US and iPad shipping yet to flourish worldwide we should expect the iDevice to spread exponentially. When compared to Apple’s earlier report the number of iPad applications in the app store doubled. This clearly shows developers interest in firming their ground early in the iPad app store.

Even though Apple has sent out invitations to developers to make iOS 4 compatible applications the craze is still on for iPad application and game development as evident from the reports. The iPad is supposed to be available in nine more countries in July which would mean the figures would go for a double next time we see this report around.

Related Posts

• June 12, 2011 -- Apple requests to be an intervenor in Lodsys suit against iPad and iPhone developers. (0)
• June 6, 2011 -- iOS 5 beta available for iPad and iPhone developers. (0)
• June 1, 2011 -- Lodsys disputes Apple’s License claim, files lawsuit against iPad and iPhone developers. (0)
• May 17, 2011 -- Apple studying Patent Infringement issue as more iPad and iPhone developers get targeted. (0)
• May 10, 2011 -- Adobe Photoshop Touch Applications for iPad available for iOS developers. (0)

The email from Apple states this:

• All iPad apps submitted must be built using this release.
• All members of the iPhone Developer Program can submit their iPad apps to iTunes Connect for review and approval. If you did not submit your app during the initial review period, but upload it by March 31, it will reviewed but may not make the grand opening of the iPad App Store.
• Make sure you read the iPhone SDK GM Seed Release Notes before installing and developing with this release.

Here is a direct snap of the Apple mailer..

Related Posts

• March 20, 2010 -- Apple Now Accepting iPad Apps (4)
• July 20, 2011 -- Box announces new APIs for iOS and Android, global challenge for app developers. (0)
• July 1, 2011 -- AddThis SDK available for iPhone app developers. (0)
• May 19, 2011 -- Adknowledge and Ansca Mobile join hands to make it easy for iPhone developer. (0)
• May 10, 2011 -- Microsoft releases Azure tools for iPhone developers. (0)

• Submit Your App by March 27.
• Build and test your iPad app using iPhone SDK 3.2 beta 5 available on the iPhone Dev Center. Only iPad apps built with iPhone SDK 3.2 beta 5 will be accepted for this initial review.
• Upload your distribution signed app through iTunes Connect by Saturday, March 27, 5pm PDT.
• The App Review Team will review your app on iPad and email you details about the readiness of your app.
• You will also receive additional information about submitting your app for final review before iPad ships.
• Only apps submitted for the initial review will be considered for the grand opening of the iPad App Store.

You can find the apple email below:

Related Posts

• March 30, 2010 -- iPhone OS 3.2 GM Seed – Now Available for iPhone Developers (0)
• July 20, 2011 -- Box announces new APIs for iOS and Android, global challenge for app developers. (0)
• July 1, 2011 -- AddThis SDK available for iPhone app developers. (0)
• May 19, 2011 -- Adknowledge and Ansca Mobile join hands to make it easy for iPhone developer. (0)
• May 10, 2011 -- Microsoft releases Azure tools for iPhone developers. (0)