We interrupt our regularly scheduled blog post to bring you this breaking news: Based on Desire2Learn’s Inter Partes request, the USPTO has ordered that the Blackboard patent be re-examined. This is a separate ruling from the one in response to the Ex Parte Sakai/ATutor/Moodle filing. As I have previously noted, the law requires that the […]
Desire2Learn
Desire2Learn Responds to the Blackboard Pledge
Here’s the meat from the full post: We at Desire2Learn are unwavering in our position that the patent claims are invalid and unenforceable against Open Source, our competitors, and us, and that we do not infringe on the claims. We look forward to a decision by the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) on […]
Ex Parte and Inter Partes Patent Re-Examination
As you know by now, the Blackboard patent has been challenged at the USPTO by separate requests filed by the SFLC and D2L respectively. SFLC filed what’s known as an ex parte request, while D2L filed what’s known as an inter partes request. I think it’s important for the community to become familiar with these […]
What the Sakai/Moodle/ATutor Re-Examination Request Really Means
By now you’ve probably seen that the Software Freedom Law Center (SFLC) has filed a request to re-examine Blackboard’s patent with the USPTO on behalf of Sakai, Moodle, and ATutor. You may have also seen that D2L has filed a different kind of re-examination request with the USPTO. (SFLC’s request is what’s known as ex […]
The Economic Impact of the Blackboard Patent Suit
One of the topics that I’ve been meaning to get to since EDUCAUSE is the likely impact of the patent suit on the financial health of Blackboard, Desire2Learn, and the other LMS players. I got to talk to a number of university decision-makers and observe the activity at the booths of various LMS vendors. My […]
Conversations with Desire2Learn and Blackboard
While at EDUCAUSE, I had opportunities to sit down with both Blackboard’s General Counsel Matthew Small and the Desire2Learn executive team. In the spirit of diplomacy, everything in this post has been reviewed by both sides, and there are aspects of our conversations that will remain private. In my conversation with Matt Small, we spent […]
Blackboard Conference Call, Part II
As I said in my previous post, I was allowed to ask quite a few questions of Matthew Small in Blackboard’s patent Q&A webinar tonight. I chose not to ask any regarding the scope or validity of the patent, since I saw no benefit in crossing swords on those issues. Instead, I focused my questions […]