John Baker (entrepreneur)
Encyclopedia
John Baker founded the eLearning or Learning Management Systems (LMS
Learning management system
A learning management system is a software application for the administration, documentation, tracking, and reporting of training programs, classroom and online events, e-learning programs, and training content...

) company Desire2Learn
Desire2Learn
Desire2Learn Incorporated is a provider of enterprise eLearning solutions and develops online Learning Management Systems used at more than 450 institutions around the world...

 in 1999 after identifying his own unfulfilled need for learning online while studying Systems design engineering at the University of Waterloo
University of Waterloo
The University of Waterloo is a comprehensive public university in the city of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The school was founded in 1957 by Drs. Gerry Hagey and Ira G. Needles, and has since grown to an institution of more than 30,000 students, faculty, and staff...

.

Baker and Desire2Learn
Desire2Learn
Desire2Learn Incorporated is a provider of enterprise eLearning solutions and develops online Learning Management Systems used at more than 450 institutions around the world...

 are perhaps best known for the legal battle they were engaged in after their major competitor Blackboard Inc.
Blackboard Inc.
Blackboard Inc. is an enterprise software company with its corporate headquarters in Washington, D.C. and is primarily known as a developer of education software, in particular learning management systems. Blackboard was founded by CEO Michael Chasen and chairman Matthew Pittinsky in 1997 and...

 obtained a contentious software patent and immediately filed suit against Desire2Learn
Desire2Learn
Desire2Learn Incorporated is a provider of enterprise eLearning solutions and develops online Learning Management Systems used at more than 450 institutions around the world...

. Desire2Learn finally won the approximately 3 year battle with a victory in the US Court of Appeals in July 2009.

Baker has won numerous awards including Top 40 Under 40 in Waterloo Region in 2009, has been inducted into the Entrepreneur Hall of Fame in Waterloo Region as Intreprid Entrepreneur of the Year in 2009, and received the University of Waterloo
University of Waterloo
The University of Waterloo is a comprehensive public university in the city of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The school was founded in 1957 by Drs. Gerry Hagey and Ira G. Needles, and has since grown to an institution of more than 30,000 students, faculty, and staff...

Engineering Young Alumni Achievement Medal in 2010.
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