A Michigan company named ForeSee Results has filed a declaratory judgment suit against Lodsys's four patents with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, reports "FOSS Patents" (http://macte.ch/K5asG). However, there's no news related to Lodsys's lawsuit against app developers from Apple and Google at this point, the article adds.

On Tuesday, ForeSee Results filed a proactive declaratory judgment action against all four Lodsys patents. In that complaint, ForeSee Results said that Lodsys had "threatened assertion" of one or more of its four patents against ForeSee's customers. "By suing in another district first, ForeSee has greatly reduced the likelihood of any infringement assertions against its customers being decided in the Eastern District of Texas," says "FOSS Patents." "If Lodsys filed any such lawsuits there, ForeSee could request transfer to the Northern District of Illinois on a first-to-file basis and would be reasonably likely to succeed. Apple was so slow that Lodsys was able to deliver the first strike.

Lodsys is suing some iOS developers for using in-app purchasing systems that it claims violates patents it owns. The patent holding firm has been targeting small iOS developers with notices of patent infringement for providing in-app purchase and/or Apple App Store purchase links within their apps. The company said developers had to obtain a license within 21 days or face the prospect of a lawsuit.

Apple has come to the defense of its app developers. In a May letter to Lodsys, Bruce Sewell, Apple senior vice president and general counsel said, "Apple is undisputedly licensed to these patents and the App Makers are protected by that license,” wrote Bruce Sewell, Apple Senior Vice President and General Counsel."

“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,” he 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.”

-- Dennis Sellers