Web Seminars Contributed by EDUCAUSE and 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 session, a respected patent litigator and leading CIO 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.

Abusive patents and a broken patent system present an ever-increasing threat to the use of technology in higher education. One company, Acacia Research, recently sent out more than 4,000 letters to colleges and universities across the country, threatening them with patent infringement lawsuits over use of streaming media for educational purposes. Others companies appear to be adopting similar tactics and may target higher education in the future. What can higher education do about this problem? Join Jason Schultz, intellectual property counsel at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, for an overview of the Acacia situation and a discussion about how to approach these and other patently offensive threats to the future of learning.