AP report on Blackboard patent
Justin Pope of AP notes:
The [Blackboard] patent, awarded to the Washington-based company in January but announced in July, has prompted an angry backlash from the academic-computing community, which is fighting back in techie fashion: through online petitions and in a sprawling Wikipedia entry.
Critics say the patent claims nothing less than Blackboard's ownership of the very idea of e-learning.
Blackboard - which recently became the dominant company in the field by acquiring rival WebCT Inc. - says critics misunderstand what the patent claims. But the company does say it must protect its $100 million investment in the technology. The day the patent was announced, Blackboard sued rival Desire2Learn Inc. for infringement and is seeking royalties.
"It just wouldn't be a level playing field if someone could come onto the scene tomorrow, copy everything that Blackboard and WebCT have done, and call it their own," Blackboard general counsel Matthew Small said.
The [Blackboard] patent, awarded to the Washington-based company in January but announced in July, has prompted an angry backlash from the academic-computing community, which is fighting back in techie fashion: through online petitions and in a sprawling Wikipedia entry.
Critics say the patent claims nothing less than Blackboard's ownership of the very idea of e-learning.
Blackboard - which recently became the dominant company in the field by acquiring rival WebCT Inc. - says critics misunderstand what the patent claims. But the company does say it must protect its $100 million investment in the technology. The day the patent was announced, Blackboard sued rival Desire2Learn Inc. for infringement and is seeking royalties.
"It just wouldn't be a level playing field if someone could come onto the scene tomorrow, copy everything that Blackboard and WebCT have done, and call it their own," Blackboard general counsel Matthew Small said.
posted by Lawrence B. Ebert at 1:07 PM
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