Apple has sent notice to Lodsys, as well as developers targeted by the patent holdings firm, saying it has licensed the rights to in-app purchase, and that that license extends to developers on the iOS platform.

Developers MobileAge, the makers of the game Shanghai lite, received a letter from Apple's senior vice president and general counsel, Bruce Sewell, this morning telling them that the company has already licensed the four patents in Lodsys' portfolio, and that said license allows Apple's customers and business partners similar coverage to use it.

"Apple is undisputedly licensed to these (patents) and … Read more

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has called Apple out for not responding fast enough, or at all, to a developing legal situation that's got some iOS developers spooked.

In a post on the group's blog today, EFF staff attorney Julie Samuels said Apple has put developers in a difficult position by requiring them to use within their apps in-app purchase (IAP), a mechanism that's been targeted by a third-party group that says the technology infringes on its patents.

That group, Lodsys, triggered a controversy last week when it began going after developers--instead of Apple--in seeking a licensing … Read more

In an ongoing legal battle over its App Store trademark, Apple has hit back at Amazon.com, denying Amazon's claim that "App Store" is a generic term.

In papers filed in federal court yesterday, Apple said it "denies that the mark APP STORE is generic and, on that basis, denies that the Amazon Appstore for Android service is an 'app store.'"

Apple also told the court that it does not believe "the words 'app store' together denote a store for apps," or that "the words 'app store' are commonly used among many … Read more

Apple is said to be "actively investigating" the patent claims made by holdings firm Lodsys, which last week began sending a handful of developers notices that their apps were infringing on a patent the group held, The Guardian reports.

Just yesterday Lodsys posted a series of frequently asked questions, along with corresponding answers to its blog, wherein it detailed how its patent pertains to the in-app purchase feature of iOS, and the developers who use it. The group seeks an ongoing, revenue-based licensing fee, as well as back payment on apps that make use of the feature.

So … Read more

A patent filing shows Apple has come up with a solution for answering the iPhone in a crowded bar or in the middle of a meeting.

Patently Apple yesterday published Apple's multipart solution, which shows the iPhone using speech-to-text and text-to-speech technologies to help people who find themselves in these situations communicate more easily.

The patent calls for a microphone to monitor the ambient noise level in a room, while a noise meter would display it on the phone's screen. When the noise level hits a certain level, if the phone rings, the user can answer using several … Read more

Microsoft, HTC, Nokia, and Sony Ericsson have filed formal applications for a declaration of invalidity against Apple's trademarks for "App Store" and "Appstore" with the Community Trade Mark office in Europe.

The four companies join Amazon, which filed a similar complaint in Europe against Apple in mid-April. All seek to get Apple's two European trademarks invalidated, saying the moniker is too generic.

"Today's filings by HTC, Nokia, Sony Ericsson, and Microsoft, like Amazon's recent action, demonstrate the breadth of opposition to Apple's unsupportable claim of exclusivity," a Microsoft representative … Read more

Apple, along with Pandora Media and The Weather Channel, have been named in a lawsuit alleging that the companies did not disclose the fact that personal data--specifically location--was being shared with third-party advertising networks.

The suit, filed yesterday in the U.S. District Court in Puerto Rico by Lymaris Rivera Diaz and picked up by The Loop, closely resembles an existing suit from December. That one targeted the same companies as well as other app makers for being able to trace an iPhone or iPad using the unique device identifier, or UDID, which is akin to a serial number in … Read more

Three employees of Foxconn, which manufactures Apple products and other electronics, are said to have been charged for violating the company's trade secret agreement by allegedly leaking design details of Apple's iPad 2 ahead of its release.

Citing reporting from Chinese-language source Sznews, Digitimes says the three employees were arrested by local police in Shenzhen, China near the end of December of last year, and were formally charged last week.

The alleged leaks gave several accessory makers time to draw up designs ahead of the iPad 2's unveiling. While some of those designs did not match up … Read more

It's been more than a month since Apple sued Amazon over the use of the term "Appstore" for its mobile software distribution marketplace, and Amazon has finally fired back with a countersuit.

In a 10-page document filed yesterday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California and picked up GeekWire, Amazon goes through Apple's original claims one by one, saying that "App Store" is too generic, and that it wants Apple's case dismissed. To back up those claims, the company even cites a quote from Apple CEO Steve Jobs … Read more