In May 2011, a company called Lodsys filed a lawsuit against Apple application developers that have in-app purchases claiming patent violation. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) sent their own team of lawyers to look into the issue and the lawsuits are currently on-going. Yesterday a patent filing by Apple was noticed by TomsGuide.com that makes the case more interesting.

Lodsys is very confident that the patent that they own does not apply to the licenses that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) claims to have in place to protect developers from a lawsuit by Lodsys. Lodsys sent patent infringement notices to over a dozen iOS and Android developers for the use of in-app purchases. Lodsys announced that they will reimburse any developer that they improperly targeted with $1,000 if Apple’s existing license rights apply to fully license the sued developers. [MacRumors]

Patent holding company Lodsys LLC has filed a lawsuit against independent Google Android developers. This is a follow-up to Lodsys’ lawsuit against several independent Apple developers. After learning about the lawsuit Lodsys filed against independent Apple App Store developers, Apple’s legal team personally stepped in and said that they have a license that protects the developers.

Earlier this month I wrote about how Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is getting involved with Lodsys’ patent infringement case against Apple App Store developers that have in-app purchases built into their applications. Lodsys filed a lawsuit against about a dozen iOS developers that are allegedly infringing on the 10/732,102 patent. Below is a letter that Apple sent to Lodsys:

The legal department behind Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is “actively investigating” a claim by Texas-based patent holding company Lodsys. Lodsys filed a claim against iPhone and iPad developers that use in-app purchase systems. Lodsys filed a lawsuit against about a dozen iOS developers that are infringing on the 10/732,102 patent. Lodsys bought the patent from the inventor in 2004.