The patent suit could be the most significant Google has ever faced, because the patents not only touch upon features of Android, but also services such as Google Maps and the company’s huge location-based advertising business.
On the other hand, British Telecommunications has tasted defeat in an equally dramatic case. In 2000, the company sued America Online and other Internet service providers for violating its patent on hyperlinks, the technology that makes point-and-click Internet surfing possible. Had the company prevailed, it might have been able to demand royalties from millions of Internet users, but a federal judge dismissed the case two years later.
