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Glenn Curtis... vs the Wright Brothers... very similar situation. Innovator vs a patent holder willing to sue rather than developing an industry. . . the wright’s were wrong and died bitter.

I saw a C-Span presentation by the author of a book about pioneering aviators.
Birdmen: The Wright Brothers, Glenn Curtiss, and the Battle to Control the Skies Paperback – April 21, 2015 by Lawrence Goldstone
is probably the book. Interesting point was, that the Wright brothers were after bigger game than “just” a 17 year patent. At the time, there was a “super patent” (not the term used at the time) concept which had arisen in the courts, not the Congress - and the Wright brothers wanted to really control powered flight, forever. It was for that reason that they actually were secretive about their successful first flight. To the point that when Europeans started to get in the game, the Wright brothers adduced only the evidence of an article by a reporter who had found out about the flight after the fact. It was, by our modern standards, weird.
As you say, Curtis was in the right - in the sense that nothing of the Wright’s techniques remain in modern practice. Altho I do believe they invented the coefficient of lift and the coefficient of drag . . .
But Curtis developed what became the standard aircraft layout and control system.

The Wrights tried and actually held up aviation development for several years... if it were not for the Atlantic ocean and WWI it would have gone on for decades. The Wrights felt they owned all of aviation via courts and patents..

The true irony was the court settlement in 1918.. Curtis-Wright Corp.. not Wright-Curtiss... because by 1917 the Wrights had far been eclipsed in technological advances by Curtis and his crew...Orville got over it.. eventually.. Wilbur died bitter. Sad given they really did invent basic aeronautical engineering and propeller engineering. Telling of the wrights was how Charles Taylor was treated by the Brothers.. read up on that.. tells a lot about the black heart the Wrights had.. Taylor laid out on his own the basics of the modern aircraft engine.. the wrights did zero to help or credit Mr. Taylor.

Must have been something for Orville to see jets flying in 1948, let alone Constellations and DC-4’s...