IP: BT mulls stupid patent lawsuit patent Good Morning Silicon Valley Mon Dec 18 12:00:10 EST 2000

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

> BT mulls <http://slashdot.org/features/00/10/08/0419212.shtml>stupid 
> patent lawsuit patent: British Telecommunications, which earlier this year 
> announced its ownership of the U.S. 
> <http://164.195.100.11/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=/netahtml/srchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1='4873662'.WKU.&OS=PN/4873662&RS=PN/4873662>patent
>
> for hyperlink technology, on Friday revealed it had 
> <http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1072000/1072484.stm>shamelessly 
> filed suit against Prodigy Communications for infringement of that patent. 
> "BT has a responsibility to assert its intellectual property," said a BT 
> spokesman. "Many companies both sides of the Atlantic 
> <http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/15485.html>make revenues from 
> exploiting their intellectual property." BT, which apparently discovered 
> it owned the hyperlink patent while trolling its archives for untapped 
> sources of revenue, subsequently wrote to Prodigy and 16 other ISPs 
> demanding to be reimbursed for the privilege of using hyperlinks. BT's 
> suit against Prodigy is the first the company has filed to protect its 
> "patent". Prodigy's response to the suit was quick and caustic. "This 
> week's lawsuit filed by British Telecommunications against Prodigy 
> Communications threatens how consumers connect to and maneuver on the 
> Internet," said Dan Iannotti, Prodigy legal counsel. 
> <http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/15527.html>"This lawsuit is a 
> blatant and shameless attempt by BT to capitalize on the initiative and 
> success of Prodigy and other pioneers of the Internet. BT's groundless 
> claims have the dangerous potential of stifling those who are truly 
> innovative in this field...Prodigy intends to vigorously defend this 
> lawsuit and protect the Internet experience that consumers enjoy today. We 
> expect our fellow Internet service providers and other companies using the 
> Internet to join us in this challenge."



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