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 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)