You couldn't patent what already existed in paper form http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spreadsheet http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spreadsheet unless you referenced t

You couldn't patent what already existed in paper form http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spreadsheet http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spreadsheet unless you referenced the patents for the spreadsheet which existed before computers and the patent office agreed it was an improvement on the original patent.