Patents

The dispute between Blackboard and Desire2Learn over patenting course management software has highlighted a variety of questions about patents and patent enforcement in higher education. What role should patents play in academia's highly collaborative, not-for-profit, revenue-strapped environment? As both producers and consumers of patented inventions, higher education has interests both diverse and deep.

In this free May 29 EDUCAUSE Live! web seminar, Patents in Higher Education: Issues Arising from the Blackboard Case, presenters James Hilton, Vice President and CIO, University of Virginia, and Bruce Wieder, Partner, Dow Lohnes PLLC, will explore key areas of patent law and discuss higher education's options and opportunities.

The recording industry’s complaints against alleged music downloaders are just the tip of the iceberg in legal threats against online activity. In the five years of the Chilling Effects Clearinghouse, we have seen thousands of legal threats, with claims including trademark infringement, defamation, and copyright infringement. This seminar will discuss some of the range of complaints, both unwarranted and justified, and describe ChillingEffects.org’s resources for those trying to evaluate legal threats. In some cases, the web’s sunlight can help to melt meritless threats.

In this free January 23 EDUCAUSE LIVE! seminar, Legal Threats, Chilling Effects, and Warming the Air, presenter Wendy Seltzer, Fellow, Berkman Center for Internet & Society, and Visiting Professor, Northeastern University School of Law, will discuss these threats and how to evaluate them.

On Wednesday, July 18, 2007, the House Judiciary Committee conducted a markup and passed H.R. 1908, the Patent Reform Act of 2007.  Representative Berman said he hopes to take the legislation to the full House for a vote before the August recess. 

The committee voted to approve an extensive manager’s amendment during the markup.  In addition, six other amendments to the legislation were approved.  The text of all seven amendments can be found on the House Judiciary Committee website at http://judiciary.house.gov/.  

This hour and fifteen-minute long podcast features a panel discussion entitled, "Higher Education and Patent Reform: Pulled in Two Directions". Particpants include:

EDUCAUSE has posted a new Patents resource page. The page features resources such as information about copyright lobby groups, government policy surrounding open source software, and working with patents in the higher education arena.

In this 15 minute recording, we'll sit down with Indiana University CIO, Brad Wheeler.  Listen in as he takes on the issue of patents, cyberinfrastructure, open source as a professional development exercise and the role of librarians in research. 


This interview is provided courtesy of CNI and was recorded at their 2006 Fall Task Force Meeting.  The Coalition for Networked Information (CNI) is an organization dedicated to supporting the transformative promise of networked information technology for the advancement of scholarly communication and the enrichment of intellectual productivity.  You can learn more about CNI at their web site, http://www.cni.org

In this 51 minute recording, we'll hear from CNI's Cliff Lynch.  Listen in has he shares some thoughts on cyberinfrastructure, patents, and much more..


This interview is provided courtesy of CNI and was recorded at their 2006 Fall Task Force Meeting.  The Coalition for Networked Information (CNI) is an organization dedicated to supporting the transformative promise of networked information technology for the advancement of scholarly communication and the enrichment of intellectual productivity.  You can learn more about CNI at their web site, http://www.cni.org

In this 14 minute recording, George Brett hosts David Walker for an interview on, among other things, a range of issues related to identity management.

In this 12 minute recording, we'll hear from Ed Meachen about work on educational gaming, patents, and more. 

See also:

• An Interview with Kurt Squire
• An Interview with Matthew Stafford

In this 15 minute recording, we'll hear from Rice University's Geneva Henry about a range of topics including open source, connexions, intellectual property and more.

See also:
http://delange.rice.edu/conferenceVI.cfm
http://cnx.org/


This interview is provided courtesy of CNI and was recorded at their 2006 Fall Task Force Meeting.  The Coalition for Networked Information (CNI) is an organization dedicated to supporting the transformative promise of networked information technology for the advancement of scholarly communication and the enrichment of intellectual productivity.  You can learn more about CNI at their web site, http://www.cni.org