With the large number of e-learning providers in the market, the past few years have seen much activity that has led to some rationalisation, but as with any evolving market there are always new ideas being brought forward and new products stemming from these ideas. This means that competition continues to intensify.

On July 26th, Blackboard announced that they had been issued “a U.S. patent for technology used for internet-based education support systems and methods” covering “core technology relating to certain systems and methods involved in offering online education, including course management systems and enterprise e-Learning systems”, and they almost immediately started an action to sue Desire2Learn (a Canadian based LMS developer) for patent infringement.

If they are successful in their action, Desire2Learn will have to pay royalties, and one would assume that BlackBoard will then seek out other LMS developers and demand similar payments.

The action taken by BlackBoard has shocked many in the e-Learning world, and struck fear amongst both developers and consumers alike. The LMS has become the backbone for many organisations e-Learning investments, whether they be from education, the commercial or the public sector, and many see that BlackBoards action will stifle future development as well as put existing providers out of business.

Now, Desire2Learn could accept their fate, pay the royalties and move on, but it looks as though they will fight the action. And this has resulted in many from the e-Learning community coming to their assistance and identifying prior art in an effort to demonstrate that BlackBoards claim to have invented the LMS, as lacking merit.

So what are the implications of BlackBoard succeeding with their action?

Initially Desire2Learn will be required to pay royalties, but if Desire2Learn contest the action via the courts then more dramatically, the costs involved would severely jeopardise their future, afterall, it is estimated that their sales are only $10m a year.

But for the wider e-learning market, any LMS provider who incorporates course information pages, discussion boards, ability to submit homework and the ability to set multiple choice questions (as well as many other features claimed by BlackBoard) may see them as possible future targets for BlackBoard. This could include the likes of SumTotal and Saba as well as opensource providers such as Moodle and Sakai.

Whilst our only experience of US patent law is only what we read in the media, the examples of prior art being provided suggests to us that BlackBoard will have a difficult task in proving that they were indeed the inventors of the modern day LMS (though with 44 claims it may find some success). Whatever the outcome, the market will get back to creating and selling once the brouhaha calms down. And additionally, the content that's been produced and collated as a result of this event will remain, and be a key resource for anyone with an interest in e-learning. A couple of the resources worth looking at include wikipedia and http://noedupatents.org .

And for those interested in keeping up to date with the BlackBoard / Desire2Learn action, keep an eye on the e-Literate blog from Michael Feldstein.