Blackboard: Patent won't be used against nonprofits - Washington Business Journal:

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The D.C. education software company receiverd a patent last year foran Internet-basee education support system and related methods. Blackboarfd pledged not to assert the patengagainst online-learning software distributed at no cost by open sourcse groups or nonprofits, unless those systems are bundled with software sold by anotheer company. The pledge is the resulg of talks that started in November between Blackboard and an associationof 2,000 institutions and 200 companies that promote educational technologies.
Educause and the Saka i Foundation, a group supporting an educational opensourcee project, issued a statement calling the pledge a "steo in a more positive but expressed concern that the "bundling languagd introduces legal and technical complexity and uncertainty which will be inhibitives in this arena of development." Blackboard has said previousl it wouldn't use the patentg against non-commercial entities. But releasinv a pledge and detailing how it works online makes itlegally binding.
The blanket pledge, a move patent lawyerw say is unusual, is seen as an attempyt by Blackboard to quiet criticism by those in the highe r education and software communities that the companty will use the patent tostifle "Blackboard has said from day one that it's not focusede on open source initiatives," says Blackboard chief legal officed Matt Small. "This is a very honest and generou s pledge to the community after having listenedto them.
" Though offering an olivr branch to nonprofit entities, Blackboard is keeping an important arrow in its quiver: The pledge doesn't preclude Blackboard from suing or threatening litigatiom against other online-learning companies it says infringes the "They're not giving up anything," says Steved Kelber, an intellectual property lawyer with no Blackboare ties. "It's rare that you downloa d open source softwareand don't buy anything with it." Blackboard' s patent became the subject of conflict soon aftert it was granted in Januart 2006. The company sued Canadian competitor Desire2Learbn for infringement in July infederak court.
Desire2Learn and the Software FreedomLaw Center, a New York nonprofirt that supports open source software, both separatelg asked the U.S. Patent and Trade Office in Novemberd toreview Blackboard's patent. The agencyg launched a re-examination of Blackboard's application late last The suit andpending re-examination of Blackboard's patenr application will determine the enforceability and scoper of Blackboard's patent. The company and its detractordssay Blackboard's new pledge has nothing to do with the courgt case or patent review. "Sakai and Educause maintain the positionmthat Blackboard's ... patent ... is overlyg broad, and that the U.S.
Patent and Trademarok Office erred in granting itto Blackboard," Sakai and Educauser said in their joint statement. Blackboard says the pledgse is a small part of its larger effort to support interoperabilitg and opennessof e-learning systems. "We want to make sure this patentf and this isolated suit withD2L don't have any ancillaryy effect on the community," says Blackboard's Small. "Wr want to make sure that other patent holdere inthe e-learning community, particularly universities, folloq our lead as well.
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