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BT Pushing Hyperlink Patent

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the you-can't-make-this-stuff-up dept.

There's been a lot of new publicity lately about the British Telecom trying to defend a patent that they claim means they invented hyperlinking. Currently they are going after Prodigy for using hyperlinking back in the early eighties. We've mentioned this one before, but it really looks like they are going to push it. Insane.

4 of 452 comments (clear)

  1. crazy by thatnerdguy · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    thats a crazy idea!!!

    --
    I saw the Sign, and it opened up my eyes
  2. My patent by pubjames · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    You know when you get really bored at work and so you decide to scrape all the finger-cheese off the keys on your keyboard?

    I've got a patent on that, I have.

  3. the future by InsaneCreator · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    What's next? Gutenberg's relatives filing a lawsuit against O'Reilly for printing books without paying royalties for using his invention?
    Patents are evil (well, a lot of them).

  4. Re:Techno/Industrial Wars? by WolfWithoutAClause · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    Probably nothing.

    Maybe they are thinking that Prodigy won't be able to afford such good legal counsel as BT and may lose the case. Even if BT shouldn't win, they could win, and that would be bad...

    Personally, I don't think they have a snowballs chance in Hell, but the court of law is a funny place. Look what happened to OJ Simpson. That case was open and shut at the beginning too...

    It would bode lots of companies to rally around Prodigy and give them a hand with legal costs. Even the EFF might be interested in this one.

    --

    -WolfWithoutAClause

    "Gravity is only a theory, not a fact!"