Patent troll Lodsys chickens out, folds case rather than face Kaspersky Lab

Ars Techinca, By Joe Mullin

In 2011, Lodsys seemed like it was working hard to earn the title of the nation's most-hated patent troll by sending threat letters to small developers. At the end of the day, it turns out that Lodsys is one tremulous troll. After settling dozens of cases, the patent-holding firm finally ran into one man who was willing to face it down in front of a jury: Eugene Kaspersky, founder of Kaspersky Lab.

Lodsys decided over the weekend to dismiss its case against Kaspersky with prejudice. Instead of facing a jury, Lodsys will slink away instead. It was an unconditional surrender.

"There was no settlement with Lodsys," Kaspersky's lead lawyer, Casey Kniser, told Ars in a phone interview. "We told these guys from the beginning; we were never going to pay them anything."

Lodsys has claimed that anyone using basic online business techniques such as "in-app" purchases or even customer feedback forms owe it money for its patents. After two years of threats, Lodsys was finally going to have those outlandish claims tested in front of a jury, which was scheduled to assemble in Marshall, Texas on Monday, October 7. Read more.