Another Patent Threatens Campus Technology

Another company has contacted a number of colleges and universities about a technology patent they might be infringing, this time for systems that transfer money across the Internet to campus cards. in 1998, JSA Technologies applied for a patent, which was granted in 2005, that covers such transfers. Many institutions use campus cards for student expenses such as books, food in snack bars, or campus fees. Jon Gear, vice president of JSA, said the company has no intention of forcing institutions to discontinue their funds-transfer systems. The company, he said, is simply enforcing a patent that protects its intellectual property. Gear said JSA contacted a number of schools, though he declined to say how many or to name them, and will negotiate licensing fees, which he said would be “negligible.” Lowell Adkins, executive director of the National Association of Campus Card Users, said his organization is working to clarify the issue. “It’s still really unclear what the scope of the patent is,” he said. “We need to understand how they’re going to exercise their rights.”

Chronicle of Higher Education, 28 March 2006 (sub. req’d)