AMERICAN patents can no longer include hyperlinks or Web addresses, says the
US Patent and Trademark Office. Under the ban, patent examiners will object to
applications containing a URL.
The Patent Policy and Projects division of the US government office suddenly
realised that when a patent is posted on the Internet, any embedded URL becomes
an active hyperlink.
Click on the link with a browser, such as Netscape Navigator or Internet
Explorer, and you will be redirected to a completely different Internet site.
The remote location can be a commercial or political site which the patent
office has no control over. 鈥淭his is improper incorporation by reference,鈥� says
the office. 鈥淎ny browser-executable code is impermissible and requires
诲别濒别迟颈辞苍.鈥�
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Greg Aharonian, who runs the Internet Patent News Service at
patent-news@world.std.com, has consistently criticised the US Patent
Office鈥檚 IT policies. 鈥淲hy didn鈥檛 anyone in management involved with automation
and computing anticipate this problem years ago?鈥� he asks, warning that
inventors now face legal fees for removing banned links. 鈥淯RLs are increasingly
accepted as a scholarly form of making a reference in text,鈥� he says.
