Blackboard v. Desire2Learn

This page aims to document (and educate the Moodle community on) the above captioned legal proceeding. This case has tremendous implications for all online course software, including of course, our beloved Moodle.

Filing of the Complaint

On July 26, 2006, Blackboard, Inc. filed a patent infringement lawsuit in Federal District Court in the Eastern District of Texas, Lufkin Division. A PDF of the Complaint can be found here. For some time now, East Texas has been well-known as a plaintiff-friendly jurisdiction. As you would expect, patent infringement is a very complex area. Going to trial in such an action is especially worrisome because outcomes are uncertain when average citizen-jurors are involved in absorbing the complex testimony and understanding the technical nuances inherent to patents. We can count on both parties making good use of pretrial motion practice, such as summary judgment. Unfortunately for the elearning communities sweating on the sidelines, this game will take years to play out.

The '138 Patent

The Complaint refers to the Blackboard-assigned patent, US Patent 6,988,138 B1, as the '138 patent. In this section, we'll dissect the '138 patent claims to understand exactly what comprises this invention.

Desire2Learn's Answer to the Complaint

We patiently await the Answer, although federal court answer pleadings are usually quite uninformative. We would expect Desire2Learn to deny each and every count alleged in the Complaint, except for the trivial counts of place of business, etc.

External References

Carnevale, Dan. 2006. Blackboard Sues Rival Provider of Course-Management Software, Alleging Patent Infringement. Chronicle of Higher Education xx:xxxx

Downes, Stephen. 2006. Blackboard Awarded Patent on e-Learning Technology. Stephen's Web (a blog).,,