This message was sent to the list by Jim Minton. ------------------------------------------------- News from the intellectual property minefield. I'll keep my eye on this one IF anything develops. -- Tam BT FINDS IT OWNS KEY PATENT FOR WORLD WIDE WEB British Telecommunications announced yesterday it has owned a patent to one of the critical components of the Internet for 14 years. BT is believed to hold a U.S. patent over "hyperlinks," which enable Web surfers to move from one page to another by clicking on pictures or text. However, BT only recently decided to take advantage of the patent commercially. The patent, which was hidden among 15,000 other international patents that BT owns, was discovered a few years ago during a regular assessment of the company's intellectual property. BT now intends to put the patent to commercial use in a move that analysts believe could bring in hundreds of millions of pounds for the company. However, BT has not yet gone to court to prove that it has the rights to the patents. Over the last few weeks BT has sent letters to U.S.-based ISPs about the patent. The company has also enlisted the assistance of QED, which focuses on getting revenues for companies that own unused patents. Although BT said it does not want to prevent anyone from using the Internet, it would like to gain some royalties based on the revenues other companies generate from using its patented technology. (Financial Times, 20 June 2000) -- - - - - - - - Tamara J. Miller Professor [log in to unmask] 611 Hodges Library Fax: 865 974-4259 Univ. of Tennessee Voice: 865 974-4465 Knoxville, TN 37996-1000 -------------------------------------------- Jim Minton Map Collection University of Tenneessee minton <[log in to unmask]>