BT Sues Prodigy Over Hyperlink Patent

Fri, Dec 15th 2000 1:16pm — Mike Masnick

BT is now suing Prodigy for violating the patent they claim they hold on hyperlinks. We originally covered this story back in June, but the fact that BT is actually suing a company about it shows the level of pure stupidity the company has. Do they actually expect every ISP in the world to pay them for their hyperlinks?

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Anonymous Coward, 16 Dec 2000 @ 7:29am

No Subject Given
fact that BT is actually suing a company about it shows the level of pure stupidity the company has.
Surely if you had the patent for the hyperlink, as a company you would be stupid (and neglecting your shareholders) if you did *not* collect royalty payments for every use of it. Don't blame BT, blame your patent system that allows BT to get away with this.
Do they actually expect every ISP in the world to pay them for their hyperlinks?
Yes. The law is the law.
Phillip.
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Col. Klink (profile), 18 Dec 2000 @ 7:01am

No Subject Given
BT is using Kenyon & Kenyon, the lawyers best known for their C&D letters sent to various CueCat hack sites. As far as I know, they never followed through on any threats against any CueCat decoders.
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