Lodsys, the patent-holding company suing iOS and other developers over alleged patent infringement, has now brought suit against a variety of other companies, including the New York Times Company. As reported by FOSS Patents, Lodsys on Tuesday filed a new patent-infringement lawsuit against DriveTime Automotive Group, ESET, ForeSee Results, LivePerson, OpinionLab, and the Times. Each of those six companies has previously filed its own declaratory judgment action against Lodsys in various other jurisdictions.
According to FOSS Patents, Lodsys is now suing 33 different defendants in East Texas over various alleged cases of patent infringement. By suing Lodsys first, the six latest companies to get hit by Lodsys’s legal team improve their chances of having their cases heard in the states where they initially filed.
Meanwhile, Lodsys has just a few weeks left to respond to Apple’s motion to intervene as a defendant in the company’s suit against App Store developers. Initially, Lodsys’s response was due by June 27, but—with no opposition from Apple—the company filed a motion seeking an extra month. Some have hypothesized that the request, coupled with Apple’s failure to oppose it, may indicate that Lodsys and Apple are negotiating toward a settlement. Of course, any settlement that Apple reaches with Lodsys wouldn’t benefit other non-iOS defendants that Lodsys is suing.