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I think you might be right that he was an early player of a patent filing game that has grown to become rather controversial in some spheres, namely software. The only way to know, besides being alive at that time, is to do the historical research.

Can you recommend any primary sources to learn more about this history (besides the patents themelves)? It sounds like you have read some?

On the bright side, not everyone took the Edison approach. Are you familiar with the history of Hans Bessemer and his approach to patents?