Apple has been given permission to play a role in a lawsuit between patent holding company Lodsys and a number of app developers, according to FOSS Patents.

However, the company’s input has been limited to “the issues of license and patent exhaustion.”

While Apple holds a licence to the Lodsys intellectual property, it has been argued that this does not enable it to pass on these rights to its developer community – the issue on which it has now been allowed to provide input.

Lodsys began targeting iOS app developers last year, claiming infringements related to in-app billing implementations. While it initially focused on a number of smaller players, it subsequently upped the ante by adding high-profile publishers including Rovio and EA to the list.

According to FOSS Patents, some smaller developers have settled with Lodsys already, in order to avoid the costs associated with a prolonged legal action.

Apple subsequently filed a “motion to intervene” in the suit, stating that it is “expressly licensed to provide to the developers products and services that embody the patents in suit, free from claims of infringement of those patents.”

It was also reported that Lodsys had begun taking actions against Android and BlackBerry developers.