Here are some notes on the outcome. I though Uncle Sam purchased the patents, as originally planned. Not so, according to: "The American aviation experience: a history" By Tim Brady
There was a tangle of 130 patents, all essential to aviation. On July 24, 1917 Congress appropriated $640 million for aviation "the largest appropriation ever made by Congress for a single purpose" "The manufacturers agreed to set up a cross patent agreement whereby any manufacturer could use patents by paying a fee to our organization set up by the patent holders. This organization would then apportion the seas to the various patent holders. The Manufacturers' Aircraft Association was thus created to collect and apportion fees and to speak for the industry. . . ." - Jed
