On Fri, 2006-07-28 at 11:33 +0100, Alex Hudson wrote: > On Fri, 2006-07-28 at 10:28 +0100, Ian Lynch wrote: > > Summary - Blackboard have obtained a broad patent on many of the aspects > > of an online learning system. The patent has been granted in the US, > > Australia and New Zealand, and its status is 'applied for' in Europe > > and many other places. > > > > Is there anything that can be done to make sure this doesn't get through > > in EU? > > I love this quote from the American version, on ease of use of webpages: > > "For example, an Internet user's ability to access information > using that medium is significantly reduced if the user lacks > understanding of how to use Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) to > traverse (i.e., navigate) web pages." > > I never realised clicking a link was so hard. > > In short, I doubt there's anything you can do to stop it being filed: it > may well get rejected, but there's not a lot you can do to help it be > rejected.
Is there no lobbying process? This is a good example of why software patents are a nonsense so fighting this one with a high public profile would illustrate the point and provide a case that would help in any future battles in the EU. > If it does get accepted, it looks like it would be pretty unenforceable > unless they've done some major rewording to the EU version. Except who would have the money to fight it? > It might be > possible to ask for a UKPO opinion on the patent, and whether Moodle > infringes (though I'm not sure they issue opinions on EU patents...). It > would cost a little money, but an opinion against would severely weaken > the patent. I think it might be worth the effort. I'm sure there are people who know more about how to do this than me but I would make a contribution if it was thought to be a decent strategy. Ian -- www.theINGOTS.org www.schoolforge.org.uk www.opendocumentfellowship.org _______________________________________________ Fsfe-uk mailing list [email protected] http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/fsfe-uk
