IBM has been granted a licence to use reconfiguration in local area networks by Beale International Technology, a little-known company based in York. Beale was established in 1963, and has specialised in local area networks and fibre optic technology over the past 10 years. It was granted worldwide patents for wrap-back reconfiguration in data transmission systems in 1987, and the company believes that the patent covers its use in Token Ring protocols as well as other sorts of high integrity data transmission applications. Beale has requested that some 180 companies apply for a licence to use wrap-back reconfiguration, and it is currently in talks with 40 more. Keith Towse, Beale’s patent manager, does not believe that there will be many problems in the application and granting of such licences.
