= Premium Content

December 12, 2008

Blackboard Sues Patent Office in Dispute Over Course Software

By JEFFREY R. YOUNG

Just when you thought the patent fight over course-management software couldn't get any more confusing, Blackboard Inc. went to federal court late last month to sue the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, seeking to overturn a recent decision concerning Blackboard's controversial patent on course-management software.

The patent is being challenged on two fronts:

Front one is the courts. Blackboard previously sued its biggest commercial competitor, Desire2Learn, arguing that the

Digital or Print Subscription

Web Pass

Already have an account? Log In Now.

First Person

4 Rules of Lateness
Notes From Academe

Coal Into Honey
Commentary

Skeptical of Slippage

Most Popular Articles

Most Viewed
Most E-Mailed
Most Commented

Past Coverage

Blackboard Sues U.S. Patent Office - December 2, 2008
In Preliminary Ruling, Patent Office Rejects Blackboard's Claims - April 20, 2009
Patent Office Rejects Blackboard's E-Learning Patent in Preliminary Ruling - March 31, 2008
Patent Office Hands Blackboard a Setback - April 11, 2008
In Preliminary Ruling, Patent Office Rejects Blackboard's Claims - April 20, 2009

Featured Articles

Teaching Experiment Decodes a Discipline

History professors at Indiana U. are redesigning courses to break through conceptual barriers by focusing on evidence and analysis.
Embedding Journalists in Academe

As newspapers wither, can universities sustain serious news coverage and analysis of current affairs? G. Pascal Zachary considers the question.
We Need 'Philosophy of Journalism'

Philosophy and journalism, two well-known approaches to truth seeking, make strange companions—and invaluable ones, writes Carlin Romano.

Campus Viewpoint

Information provided by participating institution

Copyright 2009. All Rights reserved

The Chronicle of Higher Education
1255 Twenty-Third St, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20037