In the "Bottom Line" column in the current issue of Tech Confidential, I recommend that organizations shore up their intellectual property in the increasingly competitive battlefield of business process patents. But organizations must choose their BP IP battles carefully—or risk suffering the slings and arrows of outraged customers and competitors.

Since business processes first began receiving U.S. patents in the late 1990s, they have provoked controversy. An early award to Amazon.com Inc. in 1999 for its "1-Click" e-commerce system inspired a high-profile boycott. At the time, Tim O'Reilly, founder and CEO of O'Reilly Media, labeled Amazon's patent for expediting online orders by creating customer accounts "one more example of an intellectual property milieu gone mad."

Today, e-learning company Blackboard Inc. is under similar fire for its recent patent of Internet-based education methods. On numerous blogs, e-learning experts complain that the patent is too broad and some urge boycotts. "Blackboard basically owns the patent on any sort of groupware at all that is used for teaching purposes," posts Michael Feldstein, assistant director of the State University of New York's online learning network. Fanning the flames, Blackboard used its patent to launch a suit against competitor Desire2Learn Inc., which has in turn created a web site asking customers to unearth evidence against Blackboard.

In taking arms against a sea of potential troubles, Blackboard argues that it is relying on intellectual property laws to protect its $100 million investment in product development. But what is the company relying on to protect its reputation? That may be the question.—Mary Kathleen Flynn

See Bottom Line column
See Blackboard's FAQ on patents
See Michael Feldstein's blog
See Desire2Learn's site on patent case