Hyperlinks patent trial

jen writes \”Just imagine the implications if this company is successful…


Company says it owns hyperlinks patent
Judge: \’Language is archaic … like reading Old English\’
CNN Story


A British company claimed in federal court Monday that it owns the patent on hyperlinks — the single-click conveniences that take a Web surfer from one Internet page to another — and should get paid for their daily use by millions of people.
\”


The Beeb has more.

The original patent was part of a technology called Prestel – an early system of linked computers that the Post Office was developing.


BT stumbled upon the patent during a routine update of its 15,000 global patents in the summer of 2000.


Prodigy\’s unlikely saviour comes in the form of a fuzzy black and white video which shows a 1968 demonstration by Stanford computer researcher Douglas Engelbart apparently demonstrating hypertext linking.

Gary Price adds, \”Just online, the full-text of BT\’s court filing.

Full-Image, too!
\”