Blackboard are not alone

03-August-2006

[ ICT and learning ]
SAP have applied for patents on e-learning systems.

Aha - we may have a fight on our hands.

Tim Schlotfeldt reports that SAP have applied to the European Patent Office for a patent including:

* CONTENT BASED MESSAGING FOR E-LEARNING
* STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS FOR A COLLABORATIVE E-LEARNING SYSTEM
* E-LEARNING STATION AND INTERFACE
* NAVIGATING E-LEARNING COURSE MATERIALS
* E-LEARNING COURSE EDITOR
* E-LEARNING AUTHORING TOOL
* OFFLINE E-LEARNING
* E-LEARNING SYSTEM
* E-LEARNING COURSE STRUCTURE
* E-LEARNING STRATEGIES
* CONTENT BASED MESSAGING FOR E-LEARNING
* STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS FOR A COLLABORATIVE E-LEARNING SYSTEM

Dirk Stieglitz has been burrowing away on the horrible EPO website and has come up with a list of SAP e-learning patent applications.

Can someone pass this on to Blackboard. Let the bastards slog it out in court I say. And the rest of us can get on with our work. But seriously, how many more of these applications exist?

And, one more worrying thing. The German government, which holds the rotating EU presidency for the first half of 2007, has announced a priority to strengthen Intellectual Property Rights.

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Graham Attwell; 03-August-2006 14:08:57;