Desire2Learn filed their response to Blackboard’s infringement suit, and they are coming out swinging. They’re claiming that the patent is invalid because Blackboard knowingly refrained from disclosing relevant prior art (including software they had purchased such as Prometheus and previous standards work done through the IMS). As I have discussed here before, Blackboard had an […]
Blackboard-Inc.
Being Fair to Blackboard
Al Essa has taken me to task a bit for appearing to favorably compare Microsoft and IBM to Blackboard. He notes that companies can be good corporate citizens on certain patents while predatorily asserting other patents. Let me make a couple of points in response. First, my intention wasn’t to say that Microsoft or IBM […]
Even Microsoft Disagrees with Blackboard
I recently noted that, contrary to Blackboard General Counsel Matthew Small’s assertion that no patent holder can say for certain what they will or will not do with a patent, IBM has done exactly that by providing royalty-free licenses to linux on hundreds of their patents. But hey, that’s IBM. They’re into all that crazy […]
What You Can Do About the Blackboard Patent, Part I
A number of people have commented to me that they wish that they could make a difference in the Blackboard patent fight. In the process, they usually imply that I have some power that they don’t. The thing is, I’m not a decision-maker at my university, I don’t run an Open Source project or professional […]
Hiding Falsehoods and FUD Behind Legalisms
In a recent article in the Windsor Star, everyone’s favorite plain talker, Blackboard General Counsel Matthew Small, made the following statement: “No patent holder can definitely say, ‘I will not do X with my patent.’ However, I can say very confidently that we are focusing on the commercial sector.” The first half of this statement […]
Blackboard's Answers to the IMS Blogged
Stuart Sim has live-blogged the IMS Q&A session with Blackboard regarding their patent. For those of you who don’t know him, Stuart is no wild-eyed long-haired academic commie pinko. He’s the Chief Architect at Sun Microsystems’ Global Education and Research Group. Although there doesn’t appear to be much news out of the conversation, I think […]
Al Essa's Analysis of the Blackboard FAQ
After promising to wait for Al’s analysis before publishing mine, I mistook his initial post for his final word and jumped the gun. Al’s own blow-by-blow analysis is up now. As you’ll see, we’re in pretty close agreement on it.