This Thursday, a jury ruled in favor of course management company Blackboard in a copyright suit against Desire2Learn. The Wired Campus reports:

"Desire2Learn, which has its headquarters in Kitchener, Ontario, argued that Blackboard's patent was invalid and should never have been granted in the first place. Lawyers for the company said that Blackboard officials were aware of similar technology, or what's known as "prior art," that existed before it filed its patent application, and that the company had failed to divulge that information to the patent office."

Over the past couple years, many startups have created cheaper or no-cost course management alternatives. Now, some of these companies are concerned about facing similar charges from Blackboard.