ENIAC
Eckert and Mauchly, USA, patent 3,120,545 of 1964. The first general electronic computer, patented then voided.
Overview
Penn's ENIAC computed artillery tables with 18,000 vacuum tubes from 1945. Eckert and Mauchly left to build UNIVAC, winning their patent in 1964 after a 1947-56 interference fight with von Neumann's stored-program disclosure. Honeywell's 1971 suit led Judge Larson to void the patent entirely in 1973, finding Atanasoff's ABC machine anticipated it and von Neumann's writings bar the claims. The decision freed the computer industry from royalties at its takeoff. ENIAC's 30-ton legacy remains public domain.
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