Maybe, but so did the rest of us. While IBM would patent air and water if it could, I don't believe it ever attempted to patent fractal geometry. Doctors are economically protected by a relationship with their patients, architects with their clients, executives with their stockholders. Cyberspace is unreal estate. Relationships are its geology.
Convenience is another important factor in the future compensation of creation.
Software is easy to copy, of course, but software piracy hasn't impoverished Bill Gates. Because in the long run it's more convenient to enter into a relationship with Microsoft if you hope to use its products in an ongoing way. And that serial number is not a thing. It's a contract. It is the symbol of a relationship.