All inventors gotta have some cash flow. Striking the balance for a business model can be tough. Defending an existing patent vigorously detracts from innovation for the next patentable idea. Watt had a pretty good idea what the pipeline of ideas looked like and stuck with the business model he saw as most advantageous to himself.
Back then there was the ability to sidestep patents. Only physical things were patented, and most physical things could be made by the average machinist. Thus, if a steamboat company wanted to use his idea in their own boats built by their own machinist then that would be fine. They just couldn’t go out and buy (or sell) the physical items patented. But nothing stopped them from using the business model (steam powered boats for transport of people and goods).
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All inventors gotta have some cash flow. Striking the balance for a business model can be tough. Defending an existing patent vigorously detracts from innovation for the next patentable idea. Watt had a pretty good idea what the pipeline of ideas looked like and stuck with the business model he saw as most advantageous to himself.
Back then there was the ability to sidestep patents. Only physical things were patented, and most physical things could be made by the average machinist. Thus, if a steamboat company wanted to use his idea in their own boats built by their own machinist then that would be fine. They just couldn’t go out and buy (or sell) the physical items patented. But nothing stopped them from using the business model (steam powered boats for transport of people and goods).