> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://werd.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# The Blackboard patent
- URL: https://werd.io/the-blackboard-patent/
- Published: 2006-08-02T15:43:32.000Z
- Updated: 2025-06-12T11:01:17.000Z
- Author: Ben Werdmuller
- Tags: General, #ben-684a32da145d7d001be71dae, #Migrated-1749693130536, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2025-06-11 21:52

It's interesting to see [the Slashdot take](http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/08/02/1217219) on what's been a contentious issue in the e-learning community in recent days. The consensus seems to be that the likes of Moodle and Sakai are better anyway - and a certain amount of anti-Blackboard bile has been drawn from the student members.

The patent - essentially on the concept of a VLE itself - has drawn serious amounts of ire from the learning community, which is probably deserved in my opinion. I'm not a big fan of software patents anyway, and in a field like education it seems counterintuitive to try and stifle competition and innovation.

Still, I don't think most educational software projects need to worry. Most are not 'substantially equivalent', and - although obviously this doesn't constitute legal advice - I wouldn't let this scare you. Unless you've cloned Blackboard, that is.