New York Times And OpinionLab File Suit Against Lodsys To Invalidate Patents

We have been following the Lodsys saga since it began. Lodsys has filed suit against a bunch of developers that work on iOS and is eyeing Andorid developers as well. Lodsys maintains that the devs and other companies are infringing on its patents. There are several large companies in the tech and businesses world bringing their considerable resources to the legal battle against Lodsys and two more have now joined the fray.

I mentioned last week that ForeSee had filed a claim seeking to invalidate the patents at the core of the legal battle. We have learned today that the New York Times and OpinionLab have sued Lodsys in an effort to have the patents invalidated as well. Apparently, the plaintiffs in the new case against Lodsys are seeking a declaratory judgment that the patents are invalid before Lodsys could sue them.

The OpinionLab complaint alleges that Lodsys is violating the Illinois fair competition laws and committing tortuous interference by frightening investors away from the firm. The OpinionLab compliant states, "Because Lodsys seeks to maximize its investment in the purchase of these patents and due to their imminent expiration, Lodsys has engaged in a calculated, widespread, and improper course of conduct in attempting to extract as much revenues possible from purported 'infringers,' even though Lodsys could not possibly believe, in good faith, that the allegations of infringement were proper or justified."

[via Electronista]