Patents Rethought: Khan Academy Did the Right Thing

By Michael Feldstein. To recap what’s happened so far:

• Audrey Watters called our attention to a patent filing by Khan Academy.
• I expressed my concerns about the continuing patent problem that we have in educational technology.
• Carl Straumsheim explained the defensive use of patents in more detail and in the process motivated me to take a look at the specifics of the patent agreement that Khan Academy signed.
• I took an initial look at said agreement, known as the Innovator’s Agreement, and concluded that it was a step in the right direction but that I still had concerns.

Since then, I had a little more time to look at the actual legal language of the agreement and reflect on the larger edupatent problem. More...