Blackboard Inc. files first course management patent suit

Richard Wiggins:

Huge news that will affect universities and K-12 schools in a big way, so far ignored by the media:

Blackboard Inc. has sued Desire2Learn Inc. asserting that they infringe upon a patent for course management systems. Blackboard was awarded the patent in the US in January and has filed similar patents in many nations.

The US patent, 6,988,138, reads in incredibly broad terms. No doubt the defendant and rival learning management companies such as Angel are checking into prior art and obviousness defenses.

Course management systems (aka learning management systems) are de rigueur in higher education now, and fast spreading across K-12 education. Students find the syllabus, read the course reading materials, collaborate, and take tests, all online. They are used for on-campus and distance education applications. This is a huge market and this is likely to be a huge and ugly battle.

Nathan Dintenfass discusses prior art.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at August 3, 2006 4:44 PM
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