through analysis on terms specified in claims of the Sargent patent and analyzed if the patent covered the hyperlink technology. The court decided that there were no disputed issues of material fact in this case, since the Sargent patent was by no means the same as internet and Web-based technology, and, therefore, granted Prodigy's request for summary judgement. British Telecom lost this case. In determining whether Prodigy had indeed infringed BT's Sargent patent, the court separated the patent trials into two phases: a Markman hearing constituted the first phase, with infringement analysis following. After issuing an opinion and order following the Markman hearing on March 13, 2002, the court conducted the infringement analysis to determine whether the claims of the patent, as interpreted by the Markman analysis, infringed upon the Sargent patent. Markman hearing: patent claim analysis A Markman hearing is a process in which the court translates the complicated words of a patent claim into plain English in order to clarify the facts upon which infringement and invalidity analysis hinge. Since BT had reduced the number of asserted claims in the Sargent patent from seven to five on June 22, 2001, and then from five to four on January 18, 2002, the court conducted the Markman hearing based only on claims 3, 5, 6 and 7 of the Sargent patent. The court ruled that central computer means a central computer fixed in one location in which every available piece of information accessible to users at a remote terminal is stored. Additionally, the meaning of the term blocks of information was clarified. The court ruled that each block was required to contain a first portion and a second portion which are stored together, stored next to one another in memory, and can be separated from one another. The first portion includes information component that is intended for display, while the second portion contains the complete address for each of the other blocks of information referenced in the first portion and other information to influence the display or reduce the complexity of communication. Lastly, the court concluded that a complete address in the Sargent patent is a physical (i.e.: in memory), non-virtual address from which requested blocks of information are called without reference to other information. Patent infringement analysis Does the Internet have a central computer? The court held that Prodigy had not infringed the Sargent patent, because the Internet has