The Wright Brother's patent battle wasn't about greed. That was not who Wilbur and Orville were. They weren't raised that way. They didn't live an extravagant lifestyle, and had no desire to live such a lifestyle. It may be argued by those that would disagree with this assessment, who would then ask why did Wilbur, Orville, and Katharine purchase the Oakwood property, and make plans to begin construction in 1913 to build such a large elaborate home at Hawthorn Hill? Wilbur and Orville had provided the solution to flight, and had earned a modest amount of income such that they could afford to invest in a home suitable for themselves, Katharine, and their father, with space to entertain guests from around the world. They also had an airplane business to run, requiring a sizable investment in the construction of factory buildings; one in 1910, the second in 1911, and in their payroll responsibilities to their employees.
Wilbur, writing to Mr. W. de Hevesy in Paris, January 25, 1912-
".....During the past three months most of my time has been taken up with law suits and I have been away from home most of the time. I am hoping to be freed from this kind of work before another year has ended. It is much more pleasant to go to Kitty Hawk for experiments than to worry over law-suits. We had hoped in 1906 to sell our invention to governments for enough money to satisfy our needs and then devote our time to science, but the jealousy of certain persons blocked this plan, and compelled us to rely on our patents and commercial exploitation."
"We wished to be free from business cares so that we could give all our time to advancing the science and art of aviation, but we have been compelled to spend our time on business matters instead, during the past five years. When we think what we might have accomplished if we had been able to devote this time to experiments, we feel very sad, but it is always easier to deal with things than with men, and no one can direct his life entirely as he would choose..." (1)
Wilbur mentioned above how "it is much more pleasant to go to Kitty Hawk for experiments than to worry over law-suits." He would have preferred joining Orville, Lorin, and his nephew Horace at Kitty Hawk that previous October, but he had patent lawsuits to attend to. Had the Brothers been successful in selling their invention in 1906, the Wright Aeronautical Laboratory at 15 North Broadway would have been built soon after, in lieu of 10 years later by Orville alone, where they "could give all our time to advancing the science and art of aviation..."
Octave Chanute to Wilbur Wright, Chicago, January 23, 1910-
"...When I gave you a copy of the Mouillard patent in 1901 I think I called to your attention to his method of twisting the rear of the wings. If the courts will decide that the purpose and results were entirely different and that you were the first to conceive the twisting of the wings, so much the better for you, but my judgement is that you will be restricted to the particular method by which you do it. Therefore it was that I told you in New York that you were making a mistake by abstaining from prize-winning contests while public curiosity is yet so keen, and by bringing suits to prevent others from doing so. This is still my opinion and I am afraid, my friend, that your usually sound judgment has been warped by the desire for great wealth...." (2)
Wilbur Wright responded to Octave Chanute, Dayton, January 29, 1910-
"...We had never had the slightest ground for suspecting that when you repeatedly spoke to us in 1901 of the originality of our methods, you referred only to our methods of driving tacks, fastening wires, etc., and not the novelty of our general systems. Neither in 1901, nor in the five years following, did you in any way intimate to us that our general system of lateral control had long been a part of the art, and, strangely enough, neither your books, addresses or articles, nor the writings of Lilienthal, Langley, Maxim, Hargrave, etc., make any mention whatever of the existence of such a system.....As to inordinate desire for wealth, you are the only person acquainted with us who has ever made such an accusation. We believed that the physical and financial risks which we took, and the value of the service to the world, justified sufficient compensation to enable us to live modestly with enough surplus income to permit the devotion of our future time to scientific experimenting instead of business. We spent several years of valuable time trying to work out plans which would have made us independent without hampering the invention by the commercial exploitation of the patents. These efforts would have succeeded but for jealousy and envy. It was only when we found that the sale of the patents offered the only way to obtain compensation for our labors of 1900-1906 that we finally permitted the chance of making the invention free to the world to pass from our hands. You apparently concede to us no right to compensation for the solution of a problem ages old except such as is granted to persons who had not part in producing the invention. That is to say, we may compete with mountebanks for a chance to earn money in the mountebank business, but are entitled to nothing whatever for past work as inventors. If holding a different view constitutes us almost criminals, as some seem to think, we are not ashamed. We honestly think that our work of 1900-1906 has been and will be of value to the world, and that the world owes us something as inventors, regardless of whether we personally make Roman holidays for accident-loving crowds...." (3)
The same day, Wilbur Wright wrote to Albert F. Zahm, Dayton, January 29, 1910-
"...It seems to be conceded that we made the system of control, which we patented, a part of the art, and that all who are using it obtained it from us. The objections to our legal claims are technical, being based on old publications which did not lead to any result, and which are now of use only as a means of depriving us of legal rights in an invention which we independently conceived, worked into shape, and presented to the service of the world at a time when effort in that line was considered a foolish waste of time and money. At present there seems to be a general tendency to concede our moral right to the invention, but to deny that we have any right to expect any monetary pay. We suppose all inventors have been compelled to meet a similar situation where the world's self-interest has been involved, and we take the matter as philosophically as possible even when we find good friends lined up against us, so far as the legal side is concerned." (4)
Wilbur expressed his reasons for continuing the court battles in a letter to Orville, Berlin, June 30, 1911. He was concerned about the investors. The American company treated them well, and he wanted them to do well on their investment in the company. The French and German companies had not treated them as fairly, and Wilbur felt those companies had already received their fair share. It wasn't about getting rich, it was about fairness.
"...My position as to the business affairs for the past six months has been that if I could get free from business with the money we already have in hand I would rather do it than continue in business at a considerable profit. Only two things lead me to put up with responsibilities and annoyances for a moment. First, the obligations to the people who put money into our business, and second, the reluctance a man naturally feels to allow a lot of scoundrels and thieves to steal his patents, subject him to all kinds of troubles, or even try to cheat him out of the patents entirely. So far as Europe is concerned I do not feel that we are in debt to either the French or German companies. We have not had a square deal from either of them. All the money we ever get from either of these countries will be fully paid for by future work and worries. But I hate to see the French infringers wreck our business and abuse us and then go unscathed....For the good of the public and the protection of others we ought to do our share to discourage such people a little. But so far as making money is concerned I [I] am going to quit worrying myself to death in order to get more than I have already got. The people in the American company have treated us decently and I do not wish to see them suffer a real loss. Their chance to make a big profit vanished when the injunction was dissolved. If we can make enough money by straight business methods to enable the company to dissolve in a few years without loss I will be very well satisfied. The promoters paid us 100,000 cash and have already received half of it back. I had hoped that we might clean up nearly enough this year to pay back the remainder. After that I had not intended to worry a bit about anything." (5)
An example of what Wilbur had to endure for several years, defending the Wright Brother's patents follows. This is just 6 of hundreds of pages of deposition records representing hour after hour, day after day, month after month of mind numbing questioning that Wilbur had to endure in his attempt to defend his and Orville's right to compensation for their invention against the Herring-Curtiss Company.
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| A portion of the tiring questioning Wilbur Wright was forced to endure while attempting to defend the Wright patent violations by the Herring-Curtiss Company. Image courtesy of Special Collections and Archives Core Scholar Wright State University. (6) |
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| Wright's lawyer, Toulmin, "The question and any other of the like nature is objected to on the ground that the matters inquired about are not in issue in this case; that the date and history of the invention are not involved in any defense set up..." Image courtesy of Special Collections and Archives Core Scholar Wright State University.(6) |
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| On and on and on and on, hour after hour, day after day, week after week, month after month.......Image courtesy of Special Collections and Archives Core Scholar Wright State University.(6) |
On and on, until Wilbur's death, May 30th, 1912.
Milton Wright wrote to his grand-niece Grace Frazier, October 28, 1912-
"...Orville has been considerably tossed about by a pending lawsuit at Buffalo. It is a suit against a company and against Glenn Curtiss for infringement of the Wright Company's patent.....Men with valuable patent rights have to fight for them. They [Wilbur and Orville] are not exceptions to the rule. This costs much time and money. Wilbur prepared this case mostly for trial. This was unfavorable for him in preparing for and warding off the typhoid fever...." (7)
It is illuminating to compare the value of estates left by the so-called greedy Wright Brothers, and that of one of their competitors, Glenn Curtiss.
Wilbur Wright, Co-inventor of the Airplane 1912 estate worth- $279,948
Orville Wright, Co-inventor of the Airplane 1948 estate worth- $1,023,903
Glenn Curtiss, cashed out his holdings in the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company for $32 million in 1920.
Copyright 2026-Getting the Story Wright
Notes-
1. The Papers of Wilbur and Orville Wright, Volume Two: 1906-1948, Marvin W. McFarland, Editor, 1953. Wilbur Wright to M. He'vésy, Dayton, January 29, 1912, pg 1035.
2. Miracle at Kitty Hawk, The Letters of Wilbur and Orville Wright, edited by Fred C. Kelly, 1951. Chapter IX, The Cost of Pre-Eminence, Octave Chanute to Wilbur Wright, January 23, 1910, pg 361.
3. Miracle at Kitty Hawk, The Letters of Wilbur and Orville Wright, edited by Fred C. Kelly, 1951. Chapter IX, The Cost of Pre-Eminence, Wilbur Wright to Octave Chanute, January 29, 1910, pgs 363, 364.
4. The Papers of Wilbur and Orville Wright, Volume Two: 1906-1948, Marvin W. McFarland, Editor, 1953. Wilbur Wright to Albert F Zahm, Dayton, January 29, 1910, pg 987.
5. Miracle at Kitty Hawk, The Letters of Wilbur and Orville Wright, edited by Fred C. Kelly, 1951. Chapter IX, The Cost of Pre-Eminence, Wilbur Wright to Orville, Berlin, June 30, 1911, pg 384.
6. Defendant's Record, Volume I: The Wright Company vs. The Herring-Curtiss Company and Glen H. Curtiss, 1912. Wright State University Core Scholar Wright Company Patent Litigation, Special Collections and Archives.
7. Milton Wright to grand-niece Grace Frazier archive, Author's collection.
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