02 August 2006

On hindering innovation ?!

Michael Feldstein has a keen eye on developments in the elearning stratosphere. Last week he wrote (in Blackboard Patents the LMS): "I’m surprised there hasn’t been more uproar about this yet. The ever-brilliant US Patent and Trademark Office has apparently granted Blackboard a patent for...well...pretty much anything remotely related to learning management systems."
It seems to me that we should take this pretty seriously. At least that is in the countries where this patent has been issued. For now this is the USA, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand, but it is "pending in the European Union, China, Japan, Canada, India, Israel, Mexico, South Korea, Hong Kong and Brazil" (source: Blackboard press release).

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