Washington, DC (USA), April 2008 - In a preliminary re-examination, the US Patent Office, recently suggested that Blackboard's eLearning patent may be invalid. The Patent Office rejected all 44 claims in the disputed US patent for a system for teaching in a virtual classroom using the Internet, including chat, a virtual blackboard, and provision of teaching materials.
Re-examination of the patent was applied for by the Software Freedom Law Center and Canadian Blackboard competitor Desire2Learn in late 2006. It referred to a great deal of evidence that the technology described by Blackboard was already being widely used elsewhere when the patent application was submitted.
What remains unclear, however, is how this decision will affect the ongoing legal dispute between Blackboard and Desire2Learn. In February, jurors in a Texas court found Desire2Learn guilty of infringing its competitor's patent and ordered the company to pay 3.1 million US dollars as compensation plus repayment of lost licensing income.
Desire2Learn has appealed, but also claims to have modified its software suite to bypass the disputed patent claims. Just over a year ago, Blackboard made a high-profile pledge not to use its patent against open source suppliers.
The ultimate status of the Patent Office's ruling is still open. Blackboard can still respond to the decision and noted on its website that in general, ninety percent of patents re-examined are ultimately upheld. The company says it is therefore confident that its claims will be re-declared valid and hopes that the US Patent Office will concur with the previous court decision.
