Colleges Eye eLearning Patent Fight
From eSchool News staff and wire service reports - A full-fledged flap has developed in the eLearning community over a U.S. patent awarded last January--but announced only last month--to Blackboard Inc., the market leader in learning management system (LMS) applications.
Blackboard's patent reportedly covers certain systems and methods involved in offering online education, including course management and enterprise eLearning systems. Corresponding patents, Blackboard says, have been issued in New Zealand, Singapore, and Australia. The company also reports that similar patents are pending in Canada, the European Union, China, Japan, Israel, Brazil, India, Mexico, South Korea, and Hong Kong.
Every day, millions of students taking online college courses act in much the same way as their bricks-and-mortar counterparts. After logging on, they move from course to course and do things like submit work in virtual drop boxes and view posted grades--all from a program running on a PC.
Some contend it's self-evident that virtual classrooms should closely resemble real ones. But Blackboard contends it wasn't always so obvious. And now, Blackboard holds a patent establishing its claims to some of the basic features of the software that powers online education.
The patent, and the decision by Washington, D.C.-based Blackboard to sue a smaller competitor, has prompted an angry backlash from some in the academic computing community, which is fighting back in techie fashion--through online petitions and in a sprawling Wikipedia entry.
Critics say the patent claims nothing less than Blackboard's ownership of the very idea of eLearning. If allowed to stand, they say, the patent could quash the cooperation between academia and the private sector that has characterized eLearning for years and explains why virtual classrooms are so much better than they used to be.
The patent "is antithetical to the way that academia makes progress," said Michael Feldstein, assistant director of the State University of New York's online learning network and one of the bloggers who has criticized the company.
Blackboard, which solidified its dominance in the field last year by acquiring rival WebCT, says its critics misunderstand what the patent claims. But the company does say it must protect its $100 million investment in the technology. The day the patent was announced, Blackboard sued rival Desire2Learn for infringement and is seeking royalties.
"It just wouldn't be a level playing field if someone could come onto the scene tomorrow, copy everything that Blackboard and WebCT have done, and call it their own," said Blackboard general counsel Matthew Small.
Waterloo, Ontario-based Desire2Learn said it was surprised by the lawsuit but will defend itself vigorously. No court date has been set.
Other learning management companies have questioned Blackboard's intentions.
"The fact that one company has been granted a patent for such a broad application and now is engaging in litigation with another eLearning provider is unfortunate for a market that traditionally has been fueled by innovation and choice," said Oakleigh Thorne, chairman and CEO of Denver-based competitor eCollege. "It also is unfortunate that Blackboard chose not to issue a press release when the patent was awarded this past January, at a time when the Department of Justice was investigating the antitrust ramifications of Blackboard's merger with its [then] competitor, WebCT."
Original Article: eSchool News
