Full-Scale Patent War Waged Over Educational IT Systems

A cross-border patent dispute in the education software sector has sparked a heightened use of the Internet in enlisting public support for the protagonists. On April 24, 2009, a US corporation, Blackboard Inc (Blackboard), filed a statement of claim in the Federal Court of Canada against the Ontario-based Desire2Learn Inc (D2L), Blackboard's principal competitor, for infringing its Canadian Patent 2,378,200 ("˜200 patent) entitled "Internet-based Education Support System and Methods." The two parties for some time have been embroiled on several fronts in a dispute over Blackboard's patented technology, which relates to a course-management technology system. This recent Canadian proceeding follows US proceedings on patents in the same family. Parallel proceedings have included a complaint filed with the US International Trade Commission by Blackboard in an attempt to block D2L from importing the allegedly infringing software into the US. This complaint partly relies on a judgment from March 2008 in which a jury of the Eastern District of Texas awarded Blackboard US$3.1 million for infringing US Patent No 6,988,138 ("˜138 patent), which corresponds to the "˜200 patent. However, on April 15, 2009 the USPTO issued an Action Closing Prosecution finding all of the claims of the "˜138 patent to be invalid. Blackboard has also commenced another action against D2L in the US for infringing US Patent 7,493,396 ("˜396 patent), a continuation of the "˜138 patent that was awarded February 17, 2009. On the public opinion front, D2L has launched what it calls the Million$Mission for Education, offering to donate $1 million to charity if Blackboard agrees to drop the litigation. In response, groups in support of D2L have been established on social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook. The Internet-centred nature of the disputes is further evidenced by a comprehensive web site established by D2L on which can be found much of the various litigation documentation (see http://www.desire2learn.com/patent/files.html). To compare the patents, the "˜200 patent is found here: http://patents.ic.gc.ca/cipo/cpd/en/patent/2378200/summary.html; the "˜138 patent here: http://tinyurl.com/mtnw3; and the "˜396 patent here: http://preview.tinyurl.com/cabnyx Summary by: Cheryl Cheung