More on Blackboard Patent claim

Thank you to Art Gelwicks, on EducationBridges.net (which uses an implementation of ELGG as the basis for its 'learning landscape') for a link to the Blackboard patent application listed on the US Patent and Trademark Office website. Reading through the text, the sheer hubris of any attempt to patent the concept of the learning management system on the basis of what is described in this application is, on one level, simply laughable, but on another level, of course, a ridiculous, dangerous and opportunistic bid that could stifle genuine innovation in an area that is developing rapidly in so many different areas. To quote the very first paragraph: "....a system for providing a community of users access to content items, said content items relating to a plurality of courses, each user being associated with one or more of said courses, a method of managing and controlling access to said content items, the method comprising: (a) receiving from one or more of said users proposed content items for inclusion in a content repository; (b) selecting content items from said proposed content items for inclusion in said content repository; (c) specifying which of said users are eligible to access which of said content items in said content repository; and (d) providing access to content items in said repository over a network to users specified to have access to given content items." And is all the above being presented in a unique and innovative way? I for one cannot see any such qualities in the claim, and I have read it all through carefully. The 41 image files attached to the application do nothing to add fuel to Blackboard's claim. A glance at just a few of them emphasizes the sheer effrontery of Blackboard in even considering a bid to be recognized in law as the inventors of the concept. That the US Patent Office could fall for this is more than a little worrying. The image links below will each bring up a new window with a large black and white bitmap showing one aspect of the patent claim. Anyone who has used learning management systems in earnest in recent years, and certainly anyone who has worked hard to specify in detail an LMS as part of a broader learning platform, as I have, will be gobsmacked at Blackboard's cheek! Technorati Tags: blackboard patent, learning management system, US Patent and Trademark Office, LMS

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© John Connell
The views expressed in this weblog are entirely my own and are not intended to reflect the views of any other individuals or organizations. All sources will be fully acknowledged.