All 44 Blackboard Patent Claims Invalidated by USPTO
,----[ Quote ]
| This decision actually should have come before the trial verdict but was held
| up because the USPTO had to decide what to do about the separate filings from
| D2L and SFLC. Now, in addition to the fact that Blackboard will be able to
| argue against the ruling with the USPTO, there are a number of questions
| regarding how this affects the court case.
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http://mfeldstein.com/all-44-blackboard-patent-claims-invalidated-by-uspto/
Watch how delusional the USPTO is:
Patent Office chief aims to be 'technology neutral'
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| On software patents: "Software, biotechnology, business methods--In the
| United States, the Supreme Court has consistently held that those are areas
| where there should be patents, and those industries have flourished.
|
| "Specifically with open source, I think the two should coexist very well. If
| someone gets a patent, then that intellectual property has to be respected,
| but so long as that patent isn't used, open source can be as open as it needs
| to be. You can license some (patents) and not license others. There are some
| who feel by definition you should only have open source or only have a
| patented model. The administration's position has always been that...both
| open source and patents help innovation thrive."
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http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9905450-7.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=NewsBlog
Related:
The Blackboard Patent and Blackboard's Big Idea
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| Now that the Blackboard Patent Court Case has begun, let's recap the main
| issues. Blackboard sued Desire2Learn for patent infringement. What is the
| patent claim and what is at stake?
`----
http://tatler.typepad.com/nose/2008/02/what-did-blackb.html
Blackboard Inc. Is Awarded Payment From Competitor in Patent Case
,----[ Quote
| "This is a signal event in educational technology," said Alfred H. Essa,
| associate vice chancellor and deputy chief information officer for Minnesota
| State Colleges and Universities. "It means that the big boys are playing for
| keeps and will use their patent portfolio at any cost to crush and deter new
| entrants. As a community, it will take us a long time to recover from this
| mess."
`----
http://chronicle.com/free/2008/02/1828n.htm
Taurus/Orion/Spangenberg Hold Off Ford in Madison; Blackboard-Desire2Learn
Trial Begins in Lufkin
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| Interestingly, Desire2Learn is blogging about the trial. Desire2Learn has
| already invalidated 35 out of the 44 claims of the '138 patent. I love how
| Desire2Learn refers to the inventors in quotes - "inventors." From
| Desire2Learn's blog, we learn that the Software Freedom Law Center filed an
| ex parte reexamination request, and Desire2Learn filed an inter partes
| reexamination request. Both were granted, and are continuing in parallel to
| the trial. We also learn that Judge Clark did not rule on any pending summary
| judgment motions, and decided to hold them for trial.
`----
http://trolltracker.blogspot.com/2008/02/taurusorionspangenberg-hold-off-ford.html
Blackboard Patent Goes to Trial
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| The Blackboard patent infringement case against Desire2Learn goes to trial on
| February 11, 2008 in Lufkin, Texas. The trial is expected to last two weeks.
| Both sides will have no more than 18 hours to present their case.
|
| [...]
|
| By all accounts Blackboard's patent is a stupid one and never should have
| been issued by the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
`----
http://tatler.typepad.com/nose/2008/02/blackboard-pate.html
Blackboard Problems Leave Vista on Double-Secret Probation
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| On college campuses, Microsoft's Vista operating system may be in
| danger of failing courses that use Blackboard, a key software
| program for communication between teachers and students.
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http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2109454,00.asp
>From Doug:
,----[ Quote ]
| "The leaders of higher education’s main technology association have
| written a powerfully worded letter urging Blackboard to relinquish the
| rights it gained under a controversial patent of online learning"
|
| http://insidehighered.com/news/2006/10/27/educause
|
| 'in the Blackboard patent describes a course based-system with user
| computers where each user is “capable of having predefined
| characteristics indicative of multiple predetermined roles in the
| system.” .. every other element (or its equivalent) of claim 1 must
| be embodied in the system in question for claim 1 to be infringed'
|
| http://www.blackboard.com/patent/FAQ2
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,----[ Quote ]
| "Blackboard hereby commits not to assert any of the U.S. patents listed
| below .. to the extent that such Open Source Software and Home-Grown
| Systems are not Bundled with proprietary software"
|
| "Microsoft has given Blackboard $10-million in venture capital and has
| stationed Microsoft employees within Blackboard to help with product
| development
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http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20070202101359621
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