This Day in History
April 25, 1961
Noyce Awarded Patent for "Integrated Circuit"
The U.S. Patent Office issues Robert Noyce a patent for the integrated circuit, starting a long battle with Jack Kilby over who had rights to the patent. Kilby had invented a germanium version of the circuits, while Noyce developed the silicon integrated circuit -- the one that grew to be more accepted. Integrated circuits replace transistors in computers, allowing the machines to be significantly smaller.