The case was brought by BT against Prodigy Communications, in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York. BT alleged that Prodigy (which was the first commercial ISP in the US) infringed its Sargent patent, which, according to the company, provided monopoly rights to hyperlink technology.
The original application for the Sargent patent was filed in 1976, and described a system that allowed users to access text-based information through a telephone network. The system was developed by an employee of the UK General Post Office. In 1981, the GPO was divided into BT and the Post Office. Many successor applications were submitted until the Sargent patent was granted in the US in 1989.
The patent covers a method that allows data stored on a central computer to be accessed by multiple users, located in remote terminals, via a telecommunications network.
Yesterday, Judge Colleen McMahon rejected BT’s claims that its patent covers hyperlinking, reasoning that the internet does not contain a “central computer” as described in the Sargent parent (one device in one location).
She said that no jury could find that Prodigy infringes the Sargent patent or that it actively induces others to infringe it.
Judge McMahon’s ruling was a summary decision. This means that the judge found that there were no factual issues to be examined, so the complaint could be decided without a trial. However, BT has the right to appeal the ruling.
A spokesperson for Prodigy said that the company is “pleased with the judge’s decision.” BT has not commented.