Lodsys Strikes Again: Sues Rovio For Patent Infringement Over Angry Birds

from the where-does-the-mighty-eagle-stand-on-patents? dept

Fri, Jul 22nd 2011 2:33pm — Mike Masnick

You almost have to wonder if Lodsys is filing its patent infringement lawsuits solely to demonstrate how ridiculous the system is. Its latest lawsuit is against Rovio, the makers of the nearly ubiquitous destroyer-of-productivity game Angry Birds. One hopes that Rovio, with the many millions of dollars its raised recently, can afford one mighty eagle of a lawyer, and perhaps it can show Lodsys what happens to pigs with bogus patents.

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Filed Under: angry birds, apps, patents
Companies: lodsys, rovio

25 Comments

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:Lobo Santo (profile), 22 Jul 2011 @ 2:38pm

Mighty Eagle Lawyer
They don't need to be able to afford a lawyer--they need to be able to afford a judge.
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Rick Falkvinge, 22 Jul 2011 @ 2:44pm

Rovio? In a court in Texas?
Newsflash for Lodsys:

Rovio is located in Finland.

Software patents, as such, are specificially illegal in the European Union.

Finland is part of the European Union.

Who were they suing again and why?

(This reminds me of many stupid legal threats, invoking DMCA and whatnot, against The Pirate Bay.)
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Manabi (profile), 22 Jul 2011 @ 2:49pm

Re: Mighty Eagle Lawyer
I think it's Lodsys that's going to be in dire need of buying a judge, the article says Lodsys also added Electronic Arts, Take-Two Interactive and Atari to the lawsuit along with Rovio. It's like they're trying to sue as many companies who can afford to hire lawyers by the busload, that can't be a smart lawsuit strategy.
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:Lobo Santo (profile), 22 Jul 2011 @ 2:53pm

Re: Re: Mighty Eagle Lawyer
Sadly, it is. If one of the defendants-to-be says "screw it, here's money. Go away" to Lodsys they end up making profit.
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Mike42 (profile), 22 Jul 2011 @ 2:57pm

Re: Rovio? In a court in Texas?
If that strategy works, I'm gonna look into setting up a shell company overseas. Then I'll actually be able to code in peace, without damocles' patented sword hanging over my head.
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el_segfaulto (profile), 22 Jul 2011 @ 3:03pm

Re: Re: Rovio? In a court in Texas?
I love this idea! I would certainly be interested in figuring out a way to do this, along with the other developers that I work with. It would be nice to be able to solve problems without worrying that my solution may be similar to somebody else.
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Anonymous Coward, 22 Jul 2011 @ 3:17pm

probably just settle, i mean it's true they are making so much money just throwing them a few million is much easier.
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cc (profile), 22 Jul 2011 @ 3:27pm

Re:
If they settle I think I'll start patent trolling as well.
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Chris Rhodes (profile), 22 Jul 2011 @ 3:28pm

My Wish
Someone needs to wrap a picture of an angry bird around a brick and hurl it through Lodsys's office window.
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Chris Rhodes (profile), 22 Jul 2011 @ 3:29pm

Re: My Wish
And by "brick", I mean "molotov".
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someone (profile), 22 Jul 2011 @ 3:33pm

Re: Re: Rovio? In a court in Texas?
Shame that people talk about leaving the land of the free so they can be free.
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someone (profile), 22 Jul 2011 @ 3:37pm

Is this patent non-obvious?
If so many companies are doing the same thing the idea must have been obvious.

I wonder if the fact they are suing so many companies could be used against them to get the patent invalidated.
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The Groove Tiger (profile), 22 Jul 2011 @ 3:38pm

Maybe we can expect a special "Angry Birds: Lodsys" edition coming soon?
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Capitalist Lion Tamer (profile), 22 Jul 2011 @ 4:41pm

The what?
This "Angry Birds..." What is it? Some sort of British riot grrl movement?
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Atkray (profile), 22 Jul 2011 @ 5:48pm

Irony
The irony of it all is that Angry Birds is simply a revised version of Spaced Penguin.

Link:http://www.onemorelevel.com/games/spacedpenguin.html

You have been warned.
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SUNWARD (profile), 22 Jul 2011 @ 8:51pm

Re: Rovio? In a court in Texas?
won't work.

lodsys would get a judgment in the US and then take a garnishment of fees paid by apple, and others, to Rovio
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G Thompson (profile), 22 Jul 2011 @ 10:22pm

Nope its the newest Incarnation of The Byrds...

with their new song Angry! Angry! Angry!

To IP Laws, Angry Angry Angry
There is a troll, Angry Angry Angry
And a time for us to stand up for the public

A Time to free up licenses, a time to give back to the public
A time to litigate, a time to instigate
A time to re-assess, a time for a free press
A time to free our culture, a time to kill the vultures

A Time to remove patent trolling, a time to kick some ass.
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Jan Bilek (profile), 23 Jul 2011 @ 1:32am

Re: Re: Rovio? In a court in Texas?
So this strategy would work as long as you set up a distribution system that do not depend on any American company, right?

Europe has always been more bureaucratic than US which made us less competitive. Current US software patents system could be finally something that makes US less competitive - EU should leverage that!
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monkyyy, 23 Jul 2011 @ 9:16am

Re: Re: Re: Rovio? In a court in Texas?
not a new thing at all
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Angry Birds, 24 Jul 2011 @ 12:16pm

Rovio and Angry Birds will only get bigger LOL
Why do people like Lodsys wait to sue once a product becomes popular.They probably didnt give a damn when Angry Birds was small.Now that it is a big thing they want a share of that.Reminds of the Facebook story
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staff (profile), 25 Jul 2011 @ 7:40am

bogus
"bogus patents"

How do you know they are bogus? Again you appear biased and baseless. Please write about something you know, if anything.
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Anonymous Coward, 25 Jul 2011 @ 9:02am

Re: Re:
There are companies whose sole business is buying patent rights and suing infringers.

The Intellectual Property system needs some serious reform. It was set up to make things more competitive, not anti-competitive.

*sigh*
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Derek Kerton (profile), 25 Jul 2011 @ 10:19pm

Re: My Wish
If you did, it wouldn't do much. Lodsys' offices are basically fake, in an empty building in Marshall, TX. Empty as in not even Lodsys is really there.

The brick would probably sit there for months before some cleaning crew even noticed.

See:
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110724/22250715225/when-patents-attack-how-pate nts-are-destroying-innovation-silicon-valley.shtml#c197
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weneedhelp (profile), 26 Jul 2011 @ 6:55am

Re: Re: Re: Rovio? In a court in Texas?
land of the free? Where's that?
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patent litigation, 1 Aug 2011 @ 7:51pm

hindering innovation
It would be a shame if litigation by patent trolls like Lodsys hindered innovation by small-operation app developers. Unfortunately, there are reports that this is beginning to happen.
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