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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)
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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

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Jim Minton
Map Collection
University of Tenneessee
minton <[log in to unmask]>