Judge Dubious About BT Link Patent

[Seth Johnson <seth.johnson@RealMeasures.dyndns.org>]

(Forwarded from CYBERIA list)

> http://www.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,50356,00.html

-------- Original Message --------
Date: Fri, 2 Aug 2002 16:36:45 -0400
From: Randall <rvh40@INSIGHTBB.COM>

Judge Dubious About Link Patent

By Michelle Delio

British Telecom is less than cheerio over a small setback in
the company's attempt to collect cash for the "unauthorized"
use of hyperlinks.

The British telephone company had set out to prove in a U.S.
federal court Monday that the company developed and holds a
patent to the hyperlink technology used to whisk Web users
from one site to another. See also: - Big Stink Over a
Simple Link - Linking Records Raises Risks - Everybody's got
issues in Politics But in a preliminary hearing on Monday, a
federal judge who reviewed the case said British Telecom's
claims would be hard to prove.

According to court transcripts, British Telecom be- lieves
that every single hyperlink used on every U.S. website is
utilizing intellectual property the company patented in 1976
and should therefore be subject to a licensing fee.

"The language of this patent is archaic," said U.S. District
Judge Colleen McMahon. "And it appears that this technology
was already outmoded by the time it was patented."

British Telecom still intends to proceed with the case,
according to one of the company's attorneys, Albert
Breneisen.

Lawyers for both sides employed charts and electronic
presentations to make their case, as the judge requested.
She warned them to keep it simple.

"Please use English," McMahon requested at one point, as the
lawyers argued over the definition of a computer mouse.

The judge also said she was concerned that jurors would not
be able to understand the technical language used,
particularly since the patent refers to technology patented
in the 1970s.

"I worry that jurors will not have a clue and (they will) be
terrified by this case," McMahon said.

Hyperlinks embed a bit of code on a Web page that allows
people to move from one Web page to another by clicking on
highlighted, hyperlinked text.

According to papers filed with the court, BT discovered in
mid-2000 that its "Hidden Page" patent includes the
technology that powers what are now known as hypertext
links. It says this discovery was made during a routine
update of the company's 15,000 global patents.

This seemingly random finding might create a loophole that
would allow BT to enforce its patent now. Typically, patents
and copyrights must be consistently and constantly defended
by their holders in order to be considered valid.

The patent describes a system that allows text sent from a
central computer to a terminal to include non-visible data,
such as programming code.

Hidden Page was part of a technology called "Prestel" that
was developed to allow networked computers at the U.K. post
office to communicate.

The patent was filed in the United States in 1976 and
granted in 1989.

BT's Hidden Page patent has already expired in other
countries, leaving U.S. Internet users vulnerable if the
judge rules for the company.

Upon making the fortuitous discovery that it had developed
hyperlinks, BT contacted 17 U.S. ISPs, including America
Online and Prodigy, in June 2000, asking them to buy a
license to use hyperlinks. After receiving unanimous
refusals from the companies they contacted, BT decided to
take legal action.

The trial pits Prodigy Communications against BT in what BT
believes is unauthorized usage of BT's hypertext technology.

The case against Prodigy is intended to "demonstrate the
effectiveness of the patent in general," according to papers
filed with the court. Prodigy was chosen as a test case
because it was the first commercial Internet ISP --
launching its service in 1984. It was also the first to
offer Web access to the masses, and the first service to
allow its users to publish their own Web pages.

The case was heard in the Federal Court for the Southern
District of New York, located near Prodigy's old
headquarters. Prodigy has since become part of Texas-based
SBC Communications.

Depending on the success of the Prodigy suit, BT may choose
to expand its case to include all U.S. ISPs and, probably,
corporations that do business on the Web, legal experts say.

For BT to be successful, the company needs to prove that the
claims of their patent covers the technical concept used by
hyperlinks. For Prodigy to prevail, the company will need to
provide evidence that no one else had developed a similar
technology before 1976, the date of BT's Hidden Page patent
application.

And that's where BT's case may hit a snag, copyright lawyer
Neil Justin said.  Justin and other legal and Internet
experts say there are several documented prior uses of
linking technologies, including a 1965 book by British
scientist Ted Nelson, and a Stanford University 1968
research project, which many believe is the first documented
example of hypertext-style linking.

Onlookers in the courtroom speculated over the public
relations impact that the case could have as it proceeds.

"BT has few friends in the U.K. The company has consistently
been slow to take up new technology which really frustrates
Internet users in the U.K.," Ian Hill, a London-based
technology journalist, said. "And BT now seems to be focused
on trying to spread the ill will directed at it beyond
Britain's shores. Does this mean we'll be seeing links
floating in the Boston harbor soon?"

BT's chairman Sir Christopher Bland said in a press
conference on Friday that he was not concerned about "making
friends" with U.S. Internet service providers.

"The idea that we should abandon the suit for the feel-good
factor for ISPs is bizarre," Bland said. "Everyone sues all
the time in the States, anyway."

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