As more and more good ideas come under the protection of patents, it may become increasingly unlikely that any one program can incorporate the state of the art in user-interface design without sinking into a quagmire of unending royalty payments and legal battles.

— Nathaniel Borenstein, Programming as if people mattered : friendly programs, software engineering, and other noble delusions (1991)

From his 1991 book, page 52.

Topics: software design