Lodsys has accused Rovio of infringing patents US7222078 (granted in 2007) and US7620565 (granted in 2009) invented by Daniel H Abelow.  Rovio is accused of infringing the Business model for which Lodsys holds right. The Business model covers a method Angry Birds uses to allow players to buy new levels once inside in their mobile apps on Apple’s iOS platform and Google’s Android. Further, Lodsys has demanded injunctions and damages in its complaint. However, Apple claims that they license to protect their developers.

Lodsys LLC , a Texas based patent licensing company has accused Rovio Mobile for patent infringement. Rovio Mobile, the Finnish gaming company and the maker of world’s most popular mobile game “Angry Birds” has been accused of making, selling, using, importing, and/or offering to sell infringing applications, including but not limited to Angry Birds for iPhone and Android. The Angry Birds was first launched in 2009 and so far 12 million copies of the game have been sold.

Experts believe that this type of infringement suit arises because software inventions are patentable in US whereas it’s not patentable in Europe Union. Further, the move by Lodsys has prevented several European games developers from launching their mobile gaming apps in the United States.

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Authored By: Sanjiv