Updated 20/12/2006
The UK Treasury published the Gowers Review of Intellectual Property [650 kB PDF] on 6 December. The Review is likely to define UK policy on Intellectual Property for the next few years, has plenty in it that is of relevance to UK education, as this broadly (but not totally) welcoming press release from JISC makes clear. [20/12/2006] It has been strongly welcomed by the Open Rights Group. The review has references to user-generated content (for example in relation to the Sims game), and quite an extensive discussion of Open Source. The review deals with software patents in paragraphs 4.114 - 4.119 stating that "there is little evidence that software patents increase incentives", and that the "evidence suggests software patents are used strategically; that is, to prevent competitors from developing in a similar field". It concludes that "a new right for pure software patents should not be introduced, and so the scope of patentability should not be extended to cover computer programs as such". Along the way, the Review draws specific attention to the Blackboard Patent:
"Blackboard, a US maker of online learning management systems, recently took the academic community by surprise when it announced it had been granted a broad patent in the USA. The patent covers 44 claims related to learning management systems and implicated infringement by many other products on the market. On the same day that it publicly disclosed its patent, Blackboard started a patent infringement suit in a Texas court against Desire2Learn. Many companies that have been working on educational software are now concerned that Blackboard will either sue for infringement or enforce complex and expensive licensing agreements."
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