Indie iOS Devs Under Legal Fire For Offering In-App Purchases [Breaking]
The lead developer behind the popular Mac dock replacement DragThing and the fantastic iOS scientific calculator app pCalc is about to be sued for patent infringement because his software uses Apple's own in-app purchasing mechanism.
Context & Ripple Effects
This lands eight months after controversy erupted over an Apple software patent covering an existing app's home screen design, when the question was whether Apple's own filings threatened independent developers. The new twist, per the same-day MacRumors pickup, is that the threat comes from outside Apple entirely: Lodsys is moving to sue App Store developers over in-app purchases and upgrade links — functionality those developers implemented using Apple's own purchasing mechanism.
The named target is the developer behind the Mac dock replacement DragThing and the iOS calculator pCalc, a long-standing indie shop rather than a large studio. The breadth of same-week pickup across Cult of Mac and MacRumors signals how quickly this registered in the Apple developer community: if using the platform's sanctioned payment API invites a patent claim, every IAP-enabled indie app is potentially exposed.
First-order effects
- Indie developers running in-app purchases — starting with the pCalc and DragThing developer — face licensing demands or litigation from Lodsys for shipping features built on Apple's own storefront plumbing.
Second-order effects
- Apple is forced into the position of deciding whether to defend its developers, indemnify them, or license the asserted patents itself, since its own IAP mechanism is the alleged trigger; smaller shops may strip out upgrade links and purchases rather than fight.
Third-order effects
- If assertions against platform-API users hold up, patent holders gain a lever on entire app ecosystems without touching the platform owner directly — pushing the structural burden of IP defense onto the smallest developers least equipped to carry it.
The trend: Non-practicing patent holders are shifting from suing platform vendors to monetizing software patents by asserting them against individual developers who merely build on the platform's standard features.