Editing Microprocessor (section)

====Gilbert Hyatt (1970) ====
In 1990, American engineer Gilbert Hyatt was awarded U.S. Patent No. 4,942,516,<ref>{{Cite patent|country=US|number=4942516|title=Single chip integrated circuit computer architecture|gdate=1990-07-17|invent1=Hyatt|inventor1-first=Gilbert P|url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US4942516A}} {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120525061939/http://www.google.com/patents/about?id=cNcbAAAAEBAJ |date=25 May 2012 }}</ref> which was based on a 16-bit serial computer he built at his [[Northridge, California]], home in 1969 from boards of bipolar chips after quitting his job at [[Teledyne]] in 1968;<ref name = "IEEE" /><ref name= "LAT" /> though the patent had been submitted in December 1970 and prior to [[Texas Instruments]]' filings for the TMX 1795 and TMS 0100, Hyatt's invention was never manufactured.<ref name ="LAT"/><ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/06/20/business/for-texas-instruments-some-bragging-rights.html | title=For Texas Instruments, Some Bragging Rights | newspaper=The New York Times | date=20 June 1996 | last1=Markoff | first1=John | access-date=4 October 2022 | archive-date=28 September 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220928210935/https://www.nytimes.com/1996/06/20/business/for-texas-instruments-some-bragging-rights.html | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.pcmag.com/news/the-birth-of-the-microprocessor | title=The Birth of the Microprocessor | date=16 December 2014 | access-date=4 October 2022 | archive-date=4 October 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221004020435/https://www.pcmag.com/news/the-birth-of-the-microprocessor | url-status=live }}</ref> This nonetheless led to claims that Hyatt was the inventor of the microprocessor and the payment of substantial royalties through a [[Philips N.V.]] subsidiary,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-11-07-fi-1581-story.html | title=Microprocessor Patent Holder Signs Contract : Invention: La Palma inventor signs with Dutch electronics giant, the first company to accord validity to his patent | website=[[Los Angeles Times]] | date=7 November 1991 | access-date=4 October 2022 | archive-date=4 October 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221004023903/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-11-07-fi-1581-story.html | url-status=live }}</ref> until Texas Instruments prevailed in a complex legal battle in 1996, when the U.S. Patent Office overturned key parts of the patent, while allowing Hyatt to keep it.<ref name = "IEEE" /><ref>{{cite web | url=https://lasvegassun.com/news/2014/dec/21/inventors-fight-recognition-ongoing-not-all-consum/ | title=Inventor's fight for recognition ongoing but not all-consuming - Las Vegas Sun Newspaper | date=21 December 2014 | access-date=4 October 2022 | archive-date=20 October 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221020013849/https://lasvegassun.com/news/2014/dec/21/inventors-fight-recognition-ongoing-not-all-consum/ | url-status=live }}</ref> Hyatt said in a 1990 ''Los Angeles Times'' article that his invention would have been created had his prospective investors backed him, and that the venture investors leaked details of his chip to the industry, though he did not elaborate with evidence to support this claim.<ref name ="LAT">{{cite web | url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-10-21-fi-4400-story.html | title=Chip Designer's 20-Year Quest : Computers: Gilbert Hyatt's solitary battle to patent the microprocessor appears to have paid off, if it can withstand legal challenges. Here's his story | website=[[Los Angeles Times]] | date=21 October 1990 | access-date=4 October 2022 | archive-date=4 October 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221004020434/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-10-21-fi-4400-story.html | url-status=live }}</ref> In the same article, ''The Chip'' author [[T.R. Reid]] was quoted as saying that historians may ultimately place Hyatt as a co-inventor of the microprocessor, in the way that Intel's Noyce and TI's Kilby share credit for the invention of the chip in 1958: "Kilby got the idea first, but Noyce made it practical. The legal ruling finally favored Noyce, but they are considered co-inventors. The same could happen here."<ref name = "LAT"/> Hyatt would go on to fight a decades-long legal battle with the state of California over alleged unpaid taxes on his patent's windfall after 1990, which would culminate in a landmark Supreme Court case addressing states' [[sovereign immunity]] in ''[[Franchise Tax Board of California v. Hyatt (2019)]]''.