Until somebody copies what SpaceX is doing. SpaceX might be first to succeed with this but they are inspiring lots of others to try as well. That's already happ

Until somebody copies what SpaceX is doing. SpaceX might be first to succeed with this but they are inspiring lots of others to try as well. That's already happening, there are lots of space startups and some are getting some rockets to orbit even. Any patents SpaceX might have (and I think Elon Musk is actually not big into that) would eventually expire and might be licensed in between. I don't think that's a blocker for competition. If e.g. Boeing wants in on the action, they need to start moving. The main problem with that has more to do with Boeing's inertia than with SpaceX trying to stop them from doing anything. SpaceX has actually been pretty vocal and open about their plans. And by Boeing/NASA standards they are not even spending that much on this. The only thing stopping Boeing from competing here is Boeing being Boeing. Other companies are less encumbered by their own ineptness and will no doubt start figuring things out for themselves.