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…
