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BT Hyperlink Patent Lawsuit Starting
from the throw-it-out dept
We may be violating a patent just by creating this post and hyperlinking to a story about BT's patent on hyperlinking. We had originally mentioned this story a few years ago when BT first claimed they had the patent for hyperlinking, but the case is finally going to trial. They're taking Prodigy, the ISP, to court for violating the patent. Of course, the defense has been organizing all sorts of prior art examples, such as Ted Nelson's work and a 1968 video featuring Douglas Engelbart demonstrating a system that uses links. BT is still confident that they'll win - and then we'll all be in trouble.
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This will finally go away, right?
I remember thinking of what a joke this lawsuit was. The prior art seems pretty rock solid. Why have they chosen to move forward? Does BT know something we don't (judges in their pocket or something)? Or they just taking a flyer, knowing they have a very weak case, but why not swing for the fences.
I'm not a lawyer, but I really thought they wouldn't have enough evidence to even get this far. And this quote from the article actually has me a little worried:
"Cella, for one, questioned whether the Engelbart film would hold up in court, adding that the heavily indebted BT would be unlikely to head to court and incur millions of dollars in legal fees if it thought the film could harm its case."
Our current patent system is not working.
steve
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