Stay Extended for D2L

The D2L Patent Info Blog reports tonight (May 6, 2008 7:47 PM) that Judge Clark has granted an extension until June 11 of the stay of the injunction against D2L in the Blackboard case. This buys a little more time for D2L clients (such as my employer MnSCU) to install version 8.3 which includes D2L's work-around technology regarding the bogus patent.

MnSCU is planning to upgrade to this new version just a few days before June 11. The remaining wild card in the equation (at least short term) is whether there is any legal activity before June 11 regarding whether the work-around is in fact non-infringing. Rumor has it that Matthew Small has indicated that Blackboard's position is that the work-around still infringes on their patent - but then again you can't possibly expect them to say anything different.

In other legal news, the judge denied three of D2L's requests: 1) for a Judgment as a Matter of Law (JMOL), 2) for a new trial on the issue of invalidity of the patent, and 3) a request for a JMOL on noninfringement. None of this is likely surprising to anyone. All this means is that the judge is standing behind the decisions made in his courtroom during the jury trial.

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