By Irah H. Donner and Belinda M. Juran
Originally published on September 5, 2002
As discussed in our April 17, 2002 Internet Alert, British Telecommunications plc (BT) sued an Internet service provider (ISP), claiming that use of hyperlinks infringes a BT patent. On August 22, 2002, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York granted summary judgment to the ISP, ruling that, as a matter of law, the ISP's actions do not infringe the BT patent.
Background
The U.S. patent at issue, number 4,873,662 entitled "Information handling system and terminal apparatus therefor" (the "'662 patent", also called the "Sargent patent"), was issued on October 10, 1989. BT recently re-discovered the '662 patent during an audit of its extensive patent portfolio. After unsuccessful attempts at licensing the patented invention to ISPs, BT filed suit against one major ISP, expected to be only the first of many such cases if BT won.
