Blackboard Patent Re-examined

Good news today–the Patent Office has agreed to review the overly broad Blackboard patent.

The patent in question, “Internet-based education support system and methods” (U.S. 6988138), grants Blackboard a monopoly on most educational software that differentiates between the roles of teacher and student until the year 2022.

This patent is very far-reaching and could affect open source applications like Moodle as well. I know it will be a year or two before the review process is completed, but I’m glad to at least see the process starting.

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