Microsoft Patents Ones, Zeroes
REDMOND, WA—In what CEO Bill Gates called "an unfortunate but necessary step to protect our intellectual property from theft and exploitation by competitors," the Microsoft Corporation patented the numbers one and zero Monday.

With the patent, Microsoft's rivals are prohibited from manufacturing or selling products containing zeroes and ones-the mathematical building blocks of all computer languanges and programs-unless a royalty fee of 10 cents per digit is paid to the software giant.

"Microsoft has been using the binary system of ones and zeroes since its inception in 1975," Gates told reporters. "For years, in the interest of the overall health of the computer industry, we have permitted the free and unfettered use of our proprietary numeric systems. However, changing marketplace conditions and the increasingly predatory practices of certain competitors now leave us with no choice but to seek compensation for the use of our numerals."