EDUCAUSE | Patents

Patents in Higher Education: Issues Arising from the Blackboard Case

djacobs — Thu, 29 May 2008 17:10:17 -0500

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.

Tune In May 29 for a Free Web Seminar on Patents in Higher Education and Issues Arising from the Blackboard Case

pkurkowski — Thu, 22 May 2008 11:56:57 -0500

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.

Those unable to attend may wish to visit the archives after the event or browse related EDUCAUSE resources on Patents and CMS.

Patent Office Rejects Blackboard's E-Learning Patent in Preliminary Ruling

ckeller — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 12:33:16 -0500

"The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued a preliminary decision that rejects all 44 claims Blackboard Inc. made regarding the controversial patent it was granted for an online-learning system. If upheld, the decision could have sweeping ramifications for Blackboard's competitors and universities that use course-management software. "

Jury Sides With Blackboard in Patent Case

ckeller — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 11:26:30 -0600

A federal jury in Texas recently awarded the learning services giant Blackboard $3.1 million in its patent infringement lawsuit against a much smaller competitor, adding a new layer of complexity and uncertainty to a complex, uncertain market for higher education learning management systems.

Legal Threats, Chilling Effects, and Warming the Air

ckeller — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 10:31:14 -0600

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.

Tune In Jan. 23 for a Free Web Seminar on Evaluating the RIAA’s Legal Threats to Online Activity

pkurkowski — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 17:11:33 -0600

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.

Those unable to attend may wish to visit the archives after the event or browse related EDUCAUSE resources on Copyright Infringement, P2P or File Sharing, Piracy, and Patents.

The State of Tech Transfer

ckeller — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 11:51:42 -0600

"As research spending at colleges has risen, so too has the number of new products that emerge from the campuses, according to an annual review of academic intellectual property licensing activities."

Ending the Intellectual Property Frenzy

ckeller — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 10:05:03 -0600

New president of Rochester Institute of Technology proposes alternate way for academe to support business and the economy — and it involves admitting that your institution won’t have a big windfall.

Online-learning patent dispute heats up

ckeller — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 17:05:12 -0500

The patent dispute heats up between enterprise software makers Blackboard Inc. and Desire2Learn Inc. over patent rights that Blackboard was granted in January 2006 for its course-management software and other eLearning products.

Cyberinfrastructure and Patent Thickets: Challenges and Responses

ckeller — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 12:07:09 -0500

This article presents a survey of responses to patent thickets. The first group involves efforts to either keep questionable patents from ever issuing or removing them from patent space after they have issued — in particular, the “Peer–to–Patent” project, also known as “Community Patent Review.” Proposed by Professor Beth Noveck (2006) and subsequently incorporated into a pilot project by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), Peer–to–Patent will use distributed online communities to assist in the review of patents for questions of novelty and obviousness and by enabling a virtual community of practice in a field to suggest prior art to the patent examiner. Its success will depend on the ability to leverage developments in cyberinfrastructure in the areas of Computer Supported Collaborative Work (CSCW) and information retrieval. This article also suggests extending Peer–to–Patent into the realm of patent reexamination and post–grant opposition, which are mechanisms that can remove invalid patents once they have been issued.

Intellectual Property and Cyberinfrastructure

ckeller — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 11:47:25 -0500

The development of a new generation of cyberinfrastructure promises to increase and facilitate globally distributed scientific collaboration as well as access to scientific research via computer networks. But the potential for such access and collaboration is subject to concerns regarding the intellectual property rights that will be associated with networked data and with networked collaborative activity. Intellectual property regimes are generally problematic in the practice of science, because scientific research typically assumes practices of openness that may be hampered or obstructed by intellectual property rights. These difficulties are likely to be exacerbated in the context of networked collaboration, where the development and use of intellectual resources will likely be distributed among many researchers in a variety of physical locations, often spanning national boundaries. Such issues may be addressed by a combination of public and private approaches, including amendment of U.S. law to recognize transborder collaborative work, and adoption of clarifying contractual agreements among those who are collaborating via cyberinfrastructure, including cautious adaptation of “viral” licensing from the open source coding community.

Bringing Peer Review to Patents

ckeller — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 11:39:04 -0500

Tougher examination of patent applications reduces anti–commons effects while reducing the frequency and costs of litigation. Modelled after open source/free software collaborations, the “Peer to Patent” initiative seeks to improve the quality of patents by developing a Web–based infrastructure whereby volunteer experts external to the PTO’s review applications, assemble prior art information, and submit the results of their collective work back to the Patent Office examiner. This paper endorses the spirit and goals of the “Peer to Patent” initiative, but questions its reliance on the open source model. A discussion of the functions of peer review, the meaning of peer, and the motivations of the reviewers in different contexts indicates that editorial peer review — not open source — can provide a more effective model for integrating peer review of patent applications into PTO practices.

What’s Wrong with the Patent System? Fuzzy Boundaries and the Patent Tax

ckeller — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 11:26:10 -0500

The authors provide evidence that software patents have more severe boundary problems and generate greater litigation costs than most other patents. Software patents tend to perform badly because the associated property rights are often expressed quite abstractly. The problem of mapping words to technology is difficult for any kind of technology, but it is especially difficult for software inventions because of the abstract nature of the technology. The problem has been made worse because when the courts have considered software inventions they have relaxed patent law doctrines that work to limit abstraction in other areas of technology. As a result, patent–based property rights to software inventions are not tethered to a specific device or to a specific physical or chemical process. Ironically, verbal descriptions corresponding to precise mathematical representations may be ambiguous; this is because of the inherent abstraction of the mathematical representations.

House Judiciary Committee Holds Patent Legislation Markup

hwachs — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 16:17:16 -0500

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/.

Many of the contentious issues in the patent legislation were not quite resolved before the committee approved the bill, including venue provisions. Representative Berman requested that Representatives Lofgren and Gohmert work together to examine the forum-shopping issue in greater details before the legislation is presented on the House floor, although he pointed out he did not want the legislation modified to such an extent that it operated in favor of the defendant. Ranking Member Smith and Representative Issa supported the amendment, but also felt it was overbroad and should be tweaked to ensure all exceptions for universities in the venue provisions applied only when they were acting as a university, rather than as a corporation.

Easing Friction Over Tech Transfer

ckeller — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 11:05:14 -0500

"How publicly funded research will be brought to market for the next quarter-decade was the topic of a House of Representatives hearing on Tuesday (July 17th), with panelists representing research institutions, universities and high-tech industries. None of them disputed the impact of the law, and in fact no one giving testimony seemed to like the idea of changing the legislation (or passing more of it). But they didn’t say it was perfect. "

Podcast: Higher Education and Patent Reform: Pulled in Two Directions

gbayne — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 10:19:12 -0500

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

Richard Fontana, Counsel, Software Freedom Law Center
Carl E. Gulbrandsen, Managing Director, Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF)
Edward Kazenske, Senior Director, IP&L-Patent Group, Microsoft Corporation
Joshua D. Sarnoff, Glushko-Samuelson Intellectual Property Law Clinic, Washington College of Law
Session moderator: John C. Vaughn, Executive Vice President, Association of American Universities

American colleges and universities have a love/hate relationship with patents: technology transfer brings in millions of dollars, establishes reputations, and enhances America's competitive status in the world, yet an expanding number of dubious patents are leading to higher costs, decreased market selection, and threats of litigation across many departments on campus. In this session, we'll review current legislative proposals for patent reform and spotlight some of the latest problem patents in the news.

This podcast was edited and hosted by Carie Windham.

e-Literate: EduPatents

ckeller — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 14:32:34 -0500

This blogger collects and posts aggregated content on education related patents.

New Patents Page Posted at EDUCAUSE Connect

cluckett — Thu, 24 May 2007 15:13:14 -0500

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.

Backers of Stronger Copyright Laws Form Lobby Group

drupal — Mon, 21 May 2007 16:53:36 -0500

"Some of the staunchest advocates for stricter copyright laws have formed a new alliance designed to pressure Congress into preserving stronger intellectual property rights."

Higher Education and Patent Reform: Pulled in Two Directions

drupal — Fri, 18 May 2007 09:17:51 -0500

Silicon Valley IP Lobby Goes to Washington

drupal — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 16:35:44 -0500

"As two comprehensive patent-reform bills are expected to land in the Senate and House over the next month, patent reform watchers say the issue, after years of wrangling, has gained considerable momentum. It's no surprise, then, that Valley companies and their attorneys have hit the accelerator on lobbying, both here and in Washington. Millions of dollars in yearly litigation expenses are at stake for many of these companies."

The Peer to Patent Project: Community Patent Review

drupal — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 09:44:35 -0500

The Community Patent Review project seeks to create a peer review system for patents that exploits network technology to enable innovation experts to inform the patent examination procedure. In every field of scientific endeavor, peer review is a critical quality control mechanism to improve innovation. Throughout the public sector both peer review and citizen consultation are either legally mandated or practiced as a way to inform policymaking.

The Community Patent Review project aims to design and pilot an online system for peer review of patents. By using social software, such as social reputation, collaborative filtering and information visualization tools, we can apply the "wisdom of the crowd" – or, more accurately the wisdom of the experts – to complex social and scientific problems. This could make it easier to protect the inventor's investment while safeguarding the marketplace of ideas.

Software Patents: Why Should We Care?

drupal — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 16:39:19 -0500

The author discusses how a recent shift in patent case law means that the ideas and methods underlying software can now be protected and assigned ownership.

Patent Reform is in the Air

drupal — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 16:23:41 -0600

Blog entry discussing the House IP Subcommittee hearing on "The Case for Patent Reform".

Patent Reform

drupal — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 16:19:39 -0600

The Intellectual Property Owners Association's web page on patent reform.

Title 37 - Code of Federal Regulations Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights

drupal — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 16:11:34 -0600

The current Code of Federal Regulations Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights maintained by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

To Promote Innovation: The Proper Balance of Competition and Patent Law and Policy

drupal — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 16:08:18 -0600

The Federal Trade Commission published this report on how to promote innovation by finding the proper balance among competition, patent law, and policy. The report makes several recommendations for the patent system by proposing legislative and regulatory changes to improve, including, but not limited to, patent quality, limits on awards of damages for willful patent infringement, and increased communication between the antitrust enforcement agencies.

Changes To Support Implementation of the United States Patent and Trademark Office 21st Century Strategic Plan

drupal — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 15:22:08 -0600

The United States Patent and Trademark Office received written comments from intellectual property organizations, law firms, businesses, and patent practitioners in response to the United States Patent and Trademark Office's 21st Century Strategic Plan proposing changes to the rules of practice to improve the patent application and examination process. The comments and the Office's responses to those comments are included in the discussion of the specific rule to which the comment relates.

The 21st Century Strategic Plan

drupal — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 15:12:23 -0600

The United States Patent and Trademark Office has established the 21st Century Strategic Plan proposing changes to the rules of practice to improve the patent application and examination process by promoting quality enhancement, reducing patent pendency, and using information technology to simplify the patent application process.

Blackboard Makes a Pledge

drupal — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 11:47:54 -0600

"After months of criticism that its patent policies had the potential to squelch important education projects, Blackboard on Thursday announced a "patent pledge" under which it vowed not to assert its patent rights to sue open source projects or home-grown software used by colleges and universities."

Education Software Firm OKs Open-source Patent Use

drupal — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 16:09:03 -0600

"Blackboard, whose software can be used to manage university courses, has taken a significant step to mollify open-source rivals who perceive a patent threat from the company."

EDUCAUSE Board Letter to Blackboard

drupal — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 13:17:04 -0600

October 9, 2006 letter to Blackboard concerning it's law suit claiming patent infringement against Desire2Learn.

Blackboard Statement

drupal — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 13:53:27 -0600

The February 1, 2007, statement from the boards of directors of EDUCAUSE and The Sakai Foundation on the Blackboard patent pledge.

E-Learning Software Patent Under Scrutiny

drupal — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 12:45:50 -0600

"The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office recently announced that it will re-examine a patent held by e-learning software company Blackboard. The Software Freedom Law Center, an open source software group, made the request in November on behalf of three open source educational software programs, citing documents that predate the awarding of Blackboard's patent."

EduPatents: The Gathering Storm

drupal — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 16:42:15 -0600

Stephen Downes (Canada) and Michael Feldstein (U.S.) discuss the current and long-term implications of the growing number of approved and pending patents on educational software, particularly in the context of Blackboard's current infringement lawsuit against Desire2Learn. What are the implications of Blackboard's current patent? How might it affect teachers and students? How are the likely effects different in different countries? And what are the broader implications of an environment of patent litigation for educational software? What is the potential impact of the patent on the e-learning market, and especially Open Source software? What can teachers, administrators, developers, and other stakeholders do?

Note: Once you are in the Elluminate session, fast forward to time index 7:30 to skip the mic checks and orientation slides.

Open-source Group Wants Educational Patent Reversed

drupal — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 12:48:59 -0600

"A legal center is trying to overturn a patent it says threatens three open-source educational projects, a sign of the tension between patent holders and the collaborative programming community."

An Interview with Cliff Lynch

mpasiewicz — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 13:54:39 -0600

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

An Interview with Ed Meachen

mpasiewicz — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 13:52:31 -0600

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

See also:

An Interview with Glenda Morgan

mpasiewicz — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 10:39:04 -0600

In this 17 minute recording, we'll hear from Cal State's Director of Academic Technology Research, Glenda Morgan. Listen in as she shares some thoughts about her research into faculty use of technology, intellectual property, and a range of other topics.

An Interview with Geneva Henry

mpasiewicz — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 10:37:49 -0600

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

An Interview with John Moore

mpasiewicz — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 10:12:43 -0600

In this 12 minute recording, Virginia Tech's John Moore touches on a range of topics related to Sakai and shares some thoughts on patents, and a very interesting "smart dorm" project.

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

An Interview with Brad Wheeler

mpasiewicz — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 10:12:31 -0600

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

An Interview with David Walker

mpasiewicz — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 10:12:11 -0600

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.

An Interview with Joel Greenberg

mpasiewicz — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 09:46:32 -0600

In the attached 16 minute recording, we'll hear from Open University's Director of Strategic Development, Joel Greenberg. Listen in as he discusses a range of topics including, among other things, Open University's interest in Moodle.

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

An Interview with Catheryn Cheal

mpasiewicz — Sat, 16 Dec 2006 13:35:00 -0600

In this 14 minute recording, Tip Ramsay sits down with Oakland University's Catheryn Cheal for a discussion about the evolving learning management landscape.

Google Wins Patent for Search Results Page Design

drupal — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 11:35:37 -0600

"The design of Google's search results page earned U.S. patent protection this week, bringing the total number of patents held by the search giant to some three dozen."

Blackboard Patents Challenged

drupal — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 10:36:48 -0600

"Open source group asked U.S. to revoke rights asserted by software giant. Sides trade charges on why compromise talks collapsed."

Microsoft and Novell shack up

StuartYeates — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 03:28:36 -0600

There's been a swathe of coverage of this, but the best I've seen is at Groklaw: Novell Sells Out.

Seriously though, I can understand why they have sold out. For a small tech company with stagnant growth, Microsoft's money and resources must have a black hole-like attraction, because these companies have legal obligations to give their share holders value for money.

cheers, stuart

An Interview with Malcolm Brown

mpasiewicz — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 09:15:33 -0600

IN this 6 minute recording, Dartmouth's Director of Academic Computing, Malcolm Brown, shares some thoughts on patents, course management systems and Web 2.0.

An Interview with Al Essa

mpasiewicz — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 14:23:32 -0500

In this 18 minute recording, we'll hear from Al Essa, Associate Vice Chancellor & Deputy CIO at the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities. Listen in as he shares some thoughts on the Spellings report, patents, and Kurzweil's Law of Accelerating Returns.