Apple asked to defend iOS devs from patent threats

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has called upon Apple to ‘stand up and defend’ iOS developers from patent infringement threats made by companies like Lodsys over their use of in-app payments.

Since the threats first emerged earlier this month, Apple has not made a public statement about them, although the company’s lawyers are thought to be studying the threats (and Lodsys’ patents on which they are based) intently. The EFF thinks this isn’t good enough.

"Apple’s failure to defend these developers is troubling and highlights at least two larger problems: patent trolls and developers’ vulnerability when harassing and counter-productive patent litigation comes around," writes staff attorney Julie Samuels.

The full story can be read on our sister-site ME.