November 2006 — News
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Blackboard Responds to SFLC Filing
11.30.2006—Earlier today we reported that the Software Freedom Law Center (SFLC) filed a request with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to reexamine Blackboard Inc.'s e-learning patent on behalf of three open-source developers. Tonight we talked with a representative from Blackboard about the filing—which is the first such formal request to the USPTO since Blackboard's patent was granted back in January—and have his comments on the SFLC's action.
Blackboard is, of course, a developer of software and services for the education market. The company became the focus of contention within education technology circles when, earlier this year, it obtained a patent for "technology used for Internet-based education support systems and methods" and then filed a patent-infringement suit against rival Desire2Learn in July. Individuals and organizations, including EDUCAUSE, opposed the moves by Blackboard. In October, EDUCAUSE President Brian L. Hawkins wrote a letter to Blackboard CEO Michael Chasen requesting that Blackboard "disclaim the rights established under [Blackboard's] recently-awarded patent, placing the patent in the public domain and withdrawing the claim of infringement against Desire2Learn." That letter was approved unanimously by EDUCAUSE's board of directors Oct. 8 and 9 and became public in late October. (See link below for full text.)
Other individuals have created blogs and Web sites to refute Blackboard's patent claims and to show evidence of prior art. Some went so far as to create a Wikipedia entry (called "History of virtual learning environments") detailing examples of technologies and methods claimed by Blackboard. Examples in the entry date from 1728 to 2006. (See link below.)
SFLC describes itself as an organization that provides pro-bono legal services for developers of free and open-source software. This latest action by the SFLC is a formal request to the USPTO to reexamine Blackboard's patent. It was filed Nov. 17 on behalf of Sakai, Moodle and ATutor, according to the SFLC. These are three open-source electronic learning projects that could be affected by Blackboard's patent, although Blackboard denied to us that open-source developers are being considered as targets for patent-infringement suits.
Matthew Small, senior vice president and general counsel for Blackboard Inc., told T.H.E. Journal: "Because we brought a lawsuit against a for-profit competitor, people are worried that we'd bring lawsuits elsewhere. We've been very proactive in telling schools and the open-source community that we're not interested in them. [We] support Sakai and Moodle. We'd like to talk to them, engage with them, but they've said that they don't want to talk to us."
In a prepared statement released Thursday, Eben Moglen, executive director of SFLC and professor of law and legal history at Columbia University, said, "In a free society, there is no room for a monopoly on any part of the educational process. We are confident that there is enough prior art for the Patent Office to open, reexamine, and ultimately revoke all of the patent's claims."
