Lodsys, LLC has recently sent letters to several iOS devs, claiming the devs are infringing on a patent for in-app purchases. The patent, number 7222078, is titled “Methods and systems for gathering information from units of a commodity across a network.” Below is the patent “abstract”:
In an exemplary system, information is received at a central location from different units of a commodity. The information is generated from two-way local interactions between users of the different units of the commodity and a user interface in the different units of the commodity. The interactions elicit from respective users their perceptions of the commodity.
Reminds me of those signs and ads in Japan that are in English, but clearly written by someone with a very poor grasp of the language. The full patent description is much, much longer, but unfortunately, just as poorly written. I’m no patent lawyer, but it disgusts me that patents like this are ever granted—especially when the “inventor” is not actually implementing the idea.
Shame on Lodsys. Double so for targeting devs instead of Apple.
(h/t: Marco Arment)
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