Blackboard vs. Desire2Learn

http://campustechnology.com/articles/2009/07/27/appellate-court-overturn...

Appellate Court Overturns Blackboard Patent; Blackboard To Press On
By David Nagel 07/27/09

Blackboard Inc. and Desire2Learn are still duking it out over this patent and things are getting ugly! This article covered yet another turn in the intense years-long saga. Although most of Blackboard’s claims have now been ruled as invalid, the LMS conglomerate will continue to fight, using claims of infringements of their other patents. In fact, they already have three other suits against Desire2Learn in process. While Blackboard reps are confident that they will receive restitution, Desire2Learn reps see this as a definitive win.

The case goes back to 2006 when Blackboard received a patent for "technology used for Internet-based education support systems and methods" and filed the suit. Despite protest and outrage from the educational community, Blackboard would not reconsider. In a counter move, the Software Freedom Law Center attempted to discount the validity of the patent later that year based on “prior art” or evidence that some of the technologies in the patent had existed before Blackboard. In 2007, the SFLC began to reexamine the patent. Meanwhile, Blackboard stated that it would never assert clams against any open source developers.

In early 2008, a Texas court awarded Blackboard $3.1 million for infringement and refused to invalidate the patent. It also decreed that Desire2Learn stop selling its products. However, then the United States Patent and Trademark Office decided to review the patent, and although their investigation continues, the USPTO did mention that they found “a substantial new question of patentability”.

After that, Blackboard filed a motion of contempt in a Texas against D2L, but the court ruled in favor of D2L in July 2008. The appellate court’s decision all came down to the definition of the word “user” and whether that signifies an account with password or an actual human being. The court went with the latter, and therefore Blackboard’s patent would step on “prior art”, specifically software known as CourseInfo and Serf. It is speculated that Bb will have to return the money from the original suit. However, they have also filed suit in Canada and will most likely continue to push for a monopoly of online education.