Well now, Lodsys is back firing again at the relatively helpless App Developers and is now suing 7 of them for Patent Infringement. Their blog article rejects Apples position and their response. So it seems they are intent on exploiting that which they did not develop or enrich or create themselves.

Apple is now in a difficult position. It has really two options: 1) If possible - engineer out anything that is covered by the Lodsys patent from their product offerings; or 2) Hit Lodsys with a lawsuit of their own. If Apple don’t do anything, the potential implications are that developers the world over working on iOS applications will inevitably be charged a levy to Lodsys and draining their incomes.

That said, is it a platform problem? I don’t believe it is due to the vague detail of the patent as Lodsys will simply hit Android and Windows Phone 7 next. There will certainly be less developers keen to work in mobile due to Lodsys, but it may well be a case where Google, Apple and Microsoft have to band together to fight Lodsys or risk failing individually.

I think Apple really have to option to respond forcefully, legally, to Lodsys and their claims. They would be wise to seek help from their peers if they can.