Patent applications for any new technology are not unique these days. However, at one point in the past, the adoption of technology software patents was a way for small technology companies to compete with conglomerate companies at that time.
It all started with Martin Goetz, the first individual to receive the first software patent in 1968 to prevent the then largest IT conglomerate, IBM from using his software along with their computer offerings for free.
At that time, computer software was not seen as a patentable technology, and often many companies used "third-party" software at the time and did not pay for it, often causing them to close due to lack of revenue.
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In 1968, Martin Goetz received a patent for data processing software for mainframe computers and through his company, Applied Data Research, sued IBM to prevent the company from using the software technology arbitrarily.
In fact, when Martin Goetz received the software patent, it was seen as a trigger for other software companies to oppose these giant companies to copy their software and use it arbitrarily.
Because of this, Martin Goetz has also been known as the "father of third-party software" because of what he did for the software development industry in that era.