{"id":925,"date":"2006-08-18T14:13:20","date_gmt":"2006-08-18T14:13:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.designedtoinspire.com\/blog\/blackboard-to-sakai-no-plans-to-challenge-open-source-projects-on-patent\/"},"modified":"2026-11-11T22:05:01","modified_gmt":"2026-11-12T03:05:01","slug":"blackboard-to-sakai-no-plans-to-challenge-open-source-projects-on-patent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.designedtoinspire.com\/blog\/blackboard-to-sakai-no-plans-to-challenge-open-source-projects-on-patent\/","title":{"rendered":"Blackboard to Sakai: No plans to challenge open source projects on patent"},"content":{"rendered":"

As noted in my post last night, the Software Freedom Law Center<\/a> (SFLC<\/span>) was retained by Sakai to evaluate and advise on the Blackboard patent. This morning, Inside Higher Ed<\/a> ran a post containing responses from Blackboard's general counsel, Matthew Small, about Sakai retaining the SFLC<\/span>, as well as Blackboard's general desire to work with (and not challenge) open source projects. (UPDATE: For the counter points to the IHE article, make sure to read the recently added comments at the end that bring the focus back to a challenge of the legitimacy of the patent versus if \/ when BB will challenge open source projects and users on the patent<\/em><\/strong>.) From excerpts in the IHE post: <\/p>\n

\n

Blackboard\u2019s general counsel, Matthew Small, said in an interview Thursday that he was glad that the Sakai Foundation was getting legal advice because it might find out that Blackboard was in no way threatening the open source movement. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of misinformation out there,\u201d Small said. \u201cThere\u2019s a fundamental misunderstanding of what [the patent] represents and what it doesn<\/span>\u2019t represent.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

In the interview, Small said repeatedly that Blackboard has no plans to challenge open source projects on patent issues, and he said that such challenges \u201cwouldn<\/span>\u2019t make good business sense\u201d for the company. At the same time, Small declined to directly answer whether Blackboard believes that open source projects are infringing on the company\u2019s patent rights. \u201cNo patent holder is under obligation to go out and find infringement wherever it may be,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are not focusing on the open source community or the education community.\u201d
<\/em><\/p>\n

… At the same time, Blackboard officials have repeatedly said that they want to work with open source programs, and many colleges mix Blackboard and open source services.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I had not heard about the SFLC<\/span> before yesterday<\/span>, so I Googled<\/span> them this morning:<\/p>\n