In 1968, nearly a decade after he and several other partners started the company Applied Data Research, Martin Goetz received his patent, for data-sorting software for mainframes. It was major news in the industry: An article in Computerworld magazine bore the headline "First Patent Is Issued for Software, Full Implications Are Not Known."
In 1968, nearly a decade after he and several other partners started the company Applied Data Research, Goetz received his patent, for data-sorting software for mainframes.
“I knew at some point in time the patent office would recognize” computer software, he said. It happened in 1968, helping to ignite the software market.