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Blackboard and Desire2Learn announced a settlement of their patent litigation on Tuesday, December 15. This litigation has upset many of Blackboard customers and critics alike. And, like many patent cases, it has dragged on for a long time. The criticism of Blackboard’s approach, which to many was seen as trying to eliminate competition via the courts instead of by making a better product, has apparently played an important role in this decision.

In a blog post about the settlement, Ray Henderson, President, Blackboard Learn, alluded to the controversy and makes it clear that the community reaction was one of the reasons they agreed to end litigation. Henderson wrote “This dialog has distracted attention from the many positive contributions to the industry that Blackboard has made and can continue to make.” I can’t say I follow Blackboard enough to know the degree of positive contributions they have made, but obviously this cloud has been hanging over them for a while. Let’s hope that they do make positive contributions and abandon what many have viewed as anti-competitive practices.