iOS developer threatened with 'patent infringement lawsuit for using in-app purchase'
Unnamed company chases pCalc developer over Apple’s own IAP system
Independent iOS developer James Thomson has received a “worrying threat” of legal action from an unnamed company over his use of Apple’s in-app purchasing system in his scientific calculator application pCalc.
Thomson, from Glasgow-based developer TLA Systems, took to Twitter to report the threat. “No idea what to do,” he wrote. “They seem to be effectively claiming the rights to in-app purchase, but going after me, not Apple.”
According to a report on Cult of Mac, the developer is currently speaking to Apple in an attempt to resolve the problem, though he hasn’t ruled out the possibility of going to court. However, Thomson believes that the case “is not PCalc specific in any form”.
Indeed, Thomson is not the only one to receive such a threat, with MobileAge developer Patrick McCarron adding to the Twitter discussion after receiving, “a patent threat via FedEx for in-app purchase use in [our] iOS app.”
As Cult of Mac suggests, this seems to be the work of a patent troll, but even with the power of Apple likely to be very much on the side of the developers this could well leave a number of small app and game developers very nervous about including in-app purchases in their future titles.
The freemium model, typified by Zynga's FarmVille and employed by hundreds of game developers, lets users download software for free and then pay for in-game elements through in-app purchases.
A glance at the UK Top Grossing chart on the App Store will tell you that freemium games are big business. At the time of writing, six of the ten highest earning apps are freemium games, and the other four are non-gaming apps.
