Encoding "=". Catalina does not understand http parameter with un-encoded equal sign inside param value

[Roytman, Alex]

Hello

Catalina does not understand http parameter with un-encoded equal sign
inside
i.e. myparam=fname='alex';lname='roytman'
It use to work in Tomcat 3.x and I wonder if equal sign in parameter
value has to be encoded according to specs or not