Lodsys is a company whose business model is patent trolling. They've issued warnings to numerous iOS app developers claiming they're owed royalties for their 'inventions', which seem specifically to relate to in-app purchases, a feature of Apple's iOS.
As a patent troll, Lodsys makes its money by patenting a concept and then claiming royalties from those who use them, with the threat of litigation otherwise.
Instead of going after Apple, who provides the framework which may or may not infringe on their patent, they're threatening app developers who use the in-app purchase feature of iOS in their apps. It's a bit pathetic.
From the Lodsys LLC - Blog:
"The economic gains provided by the Lodsys inventions (increase in revenue through additional sales, or decrease in costs to service the customer) are being enjoyed by the business that provides the product or service that interacts with the user. Since Lodsys patent rights are of value to that overall solution, it is only fair to get paid by the party that is accountable for the entire solution and which captures the value (rather than a technology supplier or a retailer)."
Horseshit.
Elsewhere they make a long-winded analogy to a hotel to explain that they're not confronting Apple, which is likewise spurious. A more accurate simile is to imagine that they own the patents to 'water', and rather than making a case against a water distributor who pumps it into people's homes, they're issuing lawsuits against the people who drink it.
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