In one lawsuit, Lodsys has targeted 11 different companies both small and large over infringement of its patents. Initially filed in May, five new companies have just been added to the list. One of those companies, Electronic Arts and Rovio, are the creators of the popular Angry Birds game. The three other new additions to the suit are gaming companies Take-Two Interactive, Atari and Square Enix.
In the suit, Lodsys alleges that these gaming companies are infringing on patents it holds with games on the iOS platform from Apple. That platform includes both the iPad and the iPhone. Unlike the other companies Rovio is being targeted for iOS as well as Google’s Android. Angry Birds now boasts of over 250 million downloads with a large portion being downloaded to mobile platforms.
Lodsys is a “nonpracticing entity,” or NPE, which refers to a company that’s only business is to issue licenses for patents. The lawsuits began in February when the company targeted Canon, Brother and Samsung among others for infringing on printing technology. In May, they began a campaign geared toward mobile application developers. Lodsys sent out letters telling the companies that they were infringing on patents.
Since the process began, Lodsys has not only gone after technology companies and mobile application makers, it has even targeted retailers and large businesses. Black and Decker, Adidas, Best Western, Sam’s Club and Best Buy are just a few of the big names that included in a lawsuit filed in June. Article One Partners which crowd-sources intellectual property searches, started three studies on Lodsys’ patents. Each one is offering a reward to anyone that can find evidence that will invalidate any of Lodsys’ patents.
