"the industry would be at a complete standstill if software had been eligible for patent protection in the early days of the industry." Not surprising, coming

"the industry would be at a complete standstill if software had been eligible for patent protection in the early days of the industry." Not surprising, coming from Bill Gates. When he said this, Microsoft was in the middle of a lawsuit with Apple. If software had been eligible for patent protection in the early days of the industry, Microsoft would not have been able to bring Windows to market. Apple sued them over it anyways, but their case wasn't as strong as it would've been. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_v._Microsoft http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_v._Microsoft