What I took away from the article was that the patent didn't really help the "inventor." That sales didn't really start to take off until very near the end of

What I took away from the article was that the patent didn't really help the "inventor." That sales didn't really start to take off until very near the end of his royalty period. But yet he was still very successful in the business with a long career. Maybe it is just confirmation bias, but it sounded a bit like his invention of the fuzzbox did more for his reputation in the industry than it did for his bank account.