Monday, February 25, 2008 (2:39 pm)
Blackboard Wins Patent Lawsuit Over Desire2Learn
Posted by: Matt Crosslin In: Current Events| Learning Management Systems
Of course, this is no big surprise. And it really means nothing. The Lawsuit was filed in Lufkin, TX – a known rocket docket circuit that almost always finds in favor of the patent holder. No matter how insanely wrong the patent is.
Which really means absolutely nothing, unless you are Desire2Learn or the next company that Blackboard goes after. The rest of the world knows that a victory in Lufkin means that the patent is almost guaranteed to be bogus. But Blackboard will probably continue to stand by their patent, and continue to use creepy language to insult the rest of us (“I am so embarrassed by the reaction of the academic world” – really? Are we infants that you should be “embarrassed” by us? Are we so stupid and you so smart that we embarrass you? Please…).
I’ve read the Blackboard patent. It’s not that hard to understand (most patents aren’t). I don’t know why the CEO of Blackboard has to make it sound like patent law is that hard to interpret – unless he really does find it hard to understand. I’ve read both sides’ interpretation of the patent, also. I don’t see how they can claim to have created something in 1997 that I was writing college papers about in 1995. Or how a judge could ignore the massive amount of prior art in this case and say that the patent was actually valid. That’s Lufkin, Texas for ya.
Thanks to Desire2Learn for fighting against this. Keep up the good work, and maybe someday sanity (and justice) will prevail….
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