A company is claiming to have a patent on Apple's in-app purchase system, and has contacted at least five developers of iOS apps in the US and UK demanding that they license it.The move has worried app developers who are uncertain whether Apple will cover any legal costs relating to their apps, even though they have used the company's developer kit and associated tools to create the apps.
One claim was served on Friday by hand on James Thomson, a Glasgow-based developer who wrote the apps PCalc and DragThing. Another who received the couriered legal package was Matt Braun, a developer based in Toledo, Ohio, author of the best-selling iPhone kids game MASH who runs a mobile app development company, Magnate Interactive. Patrick McCarron of MobileAge, based in Chicago, has also received a demand.
The claims come from a Texas-based company called Lodsys, which said it has four patents relating to in-app purchases, interactive online ads, online help and subscription renewals. They are cited on its website.
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