Click here to receive your FREE subscription to Campus Technology
Exclusive
Blackboard Vows To Press On
An interview with Blackboard Chief Legal Officer Matthew Small
4/2/2008
Small: I don't think we win accounts because of the patent. I think we win accounts because of the quality of our products, services, and the company that we are. I think that the invention was very well received by the community, and we developed what we patented, and people have bought it, and they license it. However, if a company such as Desire2Learn comes along and just copies the functionality and picks up where you left off without paying a royalty for it, it is generally accepted in the software world that you can seek a royalty. If they don't want to agree to one, then your only recourse is the court. And, if we're talking about patented technology, your only recourse is the patent law that we have. We can't apply a different patent law.
I think that Blackboard has been accused of using the current patent law, and much of the critique is what the patent law provides. That is a different debate from whether Blackboard is legally entitled to patent protection.
Nagel: You mean the debate is between whether this sort of thing should be patentable versus what is the current law.
Small: ... Does Blackboard have a valid, enforceable patent? That is one question. There's another question: Should the patent law allow software patents, and what should the standards be, and is there need of reform? Those are different, larger questions.
Nagel: Where do you stand on it? What if somebody came around and was able to patent, for example, having a student named Mary in a course management system, and all of a sudden your learning system can't have a student named Mary in the system? That would be an extreme example, but what's your position on what the standard should be?
Small: ... Do I think there is room for patent reform and a very healthy discussion around whether the patent system in the United States with respect to software needs repair? I would say absolutely.
However, if you say, "Well, given that, Matt, should Blackboard not protect its intellectual property?" I would say no.
There can be very healthy debate around patent reform, but, in the meantime, you seek patent protection. You follow the law that we have, and patent protection is a Constitutional, American right. This goes back to the founding of the country. How it's been applied over time to software patents is ... you know, there's a lot of discussion over where we are now, whether it's the right result or whether it should be curtailed or whether the process should be different from other areas. I think those are all very healthy debates. I think the law has changed a lot over the last two years from the courts. Standards have changed, and the laws applicable to patent cases have changed quite a bit. The law is changing all the time, and the best you can do as a public software company that's invested lots of money in your technology and your invention is to look at whatever the law is at the time and seek the protections that you have for yourself under the law, not under other laws that you wish you had.
Recommended Reading
- Sun, Stanford Working To Archive History
In May in San Francisco, experts from leading universities, libraries, and research institutions around the world met as part of an ongoing effort to address a pressing issue: archiving the world's history, right up to today.
- The Quilt Coalition Rolls Out XO Communications for High-Capacity Network Services
The Quilt, a coalition of 28 regional network organizations, has added XO Communications Services to its authorized vendor list. The Quilt represents 200 universities and thousands of other educational institutions across the United States. With this new relationship, Quilt members can purchase XO's high-speed IP transit and network transport services at competitive rates.
- Wimba Classroom 5.2 Expands Classroom Capture Support, Adds MP3 Downloads
At the NECC 2008 conference in Texas this week, Wimba launched a new version of Wimba Classroom, the virtual classroom component of the company's Collaboration Suite. The new 5.2 release expands options for classroom capture and adds a variety of other functional and ease of use features.
- Automation Chimera: Education Is Not Management
The lure of automating workflow online so human intervention is minimized is continually reinforced in the minds of higher education administrators by examples of automated campus systems such as financials, student information systems, and other enterprise systems. But what's good for management is not always good for learning.
- Cognos Releases BI Software for Linux-based IBM System z Mainframe
Cognos, which IBM acquired in January, has released an update to its business intelligence software that will run on the Linux operating system on IBM System z mainframes. IBM Cognos 8 BI was being developed by the two companies prior to the acquisition, but assimilation of Cognos into IBM accelerated development.
- Facebook and Collegiality: A Serendipitous Social Niche
Facebook is a way to greet a colleague as if she or he is on your own campus: a wave at a distance, a hello at the corner burrito place, a honk as you both leave the campus parking lot. Informal collegiality has been extended over the miles.
