https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ribbon_(computing)

Proponents of free software, such as KDE developer Jarosław Staniek,[37] have expressed beliefs that patents regarding ribbons cannot be acquired due to the ubiquity of prior art.[37] Staniek notes that the ribbon concept has historically appeared extensively as "tabbed toolbars" in applications such as Sausage Software HotDog, Macromedia HomeSite, Dreamweaver, and Borland Delphi.[37] Lotus developed early ribbon UIs for its product eSuite. Screen shots are still available in an IBM redbook about eSuite (page 109ff).[38]

On 13 February 2018, a jury from the Northern District of California found that Corel Corporation had infringed on several Microsoft Ribbon Design Patents and Ribbon Utility Patents regarding the Fluent UI.[39][40]