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All 44 Blackboard Patent Claims Invalidated

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the small-victories-still-victories dept.

I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property writes "The US Patent & Trademark Office has invalidated all 44 claims in Blackboard's patent. While this is a non-final action [PDF], which means that Blackboard will be able to appeal, it does represent a win for the Software Freedom Law Center which had requested the reexamination of Blackboard's patent. It is not yet known how this will affect the $3.1M judgment Blackboard won from Desire2Learn."

5 of 130 comments (clear)

  1. Get rid of the USPTO by Yfrwlf · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The only thing this ruling should show to the courts is that the USPTO is a POS. They were the ones who approved those patents, so if all of them were invalid what does that say? That they don't search very hard for "prior art", is what it says to me. In this age of information technology, the only thing governments granting the monopolies more monopolies on things does is take more money from consumers and hurt everyone. We'd all have a lot more money and more free time to come up with new products if we weren't so overworked from stuffing billionaire's pockets. Of course the worst offense are software patents, the most ridiculous kind since it's extremely obvious making software to perform any task, which makes it much more of a patenting an "idea" than most any other kind of patent.

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    Promote true freedom - support standards and interoperability.
    1. Re:Get rid of the USPTO by mrbluze · · Score: 5, Insightful

      While this is a non-final action [PDF], which means that Blackboard will be able to appeal, I love how lawyers help lawyers make lawyers more money. I mean, incompetent doctors generate business for incompetent doctors, but lawyers do it with flair!
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      Do it yourself, because no one else will do it yourself. [beta blockade 10-17 Feb]
    2. Re:Get rid of the USPTO by pokerdad · · Score: 5, Insightful

      In defense of the USPTO, they did receive over 700,000 patent applications last year.

      Do they do such a bad job because they receive so many, or do they receive so many becaue they do a bad job?

  2. Is the tide turning? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting
    The pressure has built for years. Nobody ever liked software or business patents. It all started with a court case that opened the gates and once that happened an arms race ensued. The very idea is absurd, and a whole industry with many reputations and careers has been built on defending the ridiculous during the last few years.

    I found these remarks in the comments of TFA very interesting, and I assume they are genuine.

    I head the group that runs Blackboard at our university and we are very happy, as an institution....Personally, I have a number of friends at Blackboard; I like them very much and I think they are good people, but I am glad to see news that the Blackboard patent claims will/might soon be invalidated. I am of the opinion that Blackboard should have never embarked into this nonsense, into this unnecessary e-Learning industry distraction, and that whatever money Blackboard would make out of it, if any, it would never amount to the costs and PR damage that they have inflicted on themselves. Blackboard has excellent technology, products and services. They should continue to compete and keep/attract customers on that, and not on wasting their/our time and resources filing patents and lawsuits. Hopefully, this will be the beginning of the end of this nonsense.


    And this commentator is not alone. I hear from many people who once defended software patents, even those who own them and have profited, that secretly or even openly they believe they are immoral and wrong. The problem has always been that since they were allowed it's been a defensive measure to acquire them.

    We have to go back to the source and overturn this awful mistake that was made. The world does not accept software and business patents. Proponents of it can shout and scream all they like, and maybe many will lose a lot of money they wasted on these things, but at the end of the day humanity will be better once we lay this monster to rest. I hope this is the start of a domino effect that starts to bring down all the bogus patents made in bad faith. Only those on real manufacturable goods should stand.
  3. Where to Send Your Check by MichaelCrawford · · Score: 5, Informative
    You can donate online via Google Checkout, Network for Good or PayPal from the Software Freedom Law Center's donation page, or mail a check to:

    Software Freedom Law Center
    1995 Broadway, 17th floor
    New York, NY 10023

    They're a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, so if you're in the US, your contribution will be tax-deductible.

    It's expensive to fight lawsuits. Vote with your wallet!

    --
    Request your free CD of my piano music.