Litigant Lodsys turns defendant

Lodsys, the company pursuing high-profile patent infringement cases against many in the tech industry, is finding itself on the receiving end of a pre-emptive lawsuit challenging its patents, states CNet.

Eset, a San Diego-based anti-virus software maker, filed a declaratory judgement lawsuit last Friday against Lodsys with the US District Court.

Lodsys claimed in letters to Eset that the upgrade feature in the company's NOD32 Antivirus 4 software violated four patents held by Lodsys and offered to licence the patents to Eset, according to Eset's filing.

Eset took the legal action after receiving threatening messages from Lodsys asserting it was infringing on Lodsys' patents.

“Defendant's message enclosing the claim chart stated that defendant's goal was 'resolving this issue with a minimum of expense and hassle for your clients,'” Eset said in its filing.

Representatives for Lodsys did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and a note on its site states that it does not address media questions.

In other news, Xbiz Newswire says, on Friday, Lodsys filed suit against 10 companies over alleged infringement over patents.

Among the defendants are Adidas, BBT Solutions, Best Western, CVS, Sam's West, Stanley Black & Decker, the Container Store, the Teaching Company, Vitamin Shoppe and Vegas.com.

Lodsys CEO Mark Small told Xbiz last week that he could not comment on legal manoeuvres but would let court filings do the talking for the company.