Collier says he'd been badly shaken by how precarious a patent on an invention can be. He says he never recouped all his expenses in litigation, although he did recover control of his raised-flooring patent and later licensed it to a third company. Won the war, lost six years. But it was a heck of an experience, you can't get it in a classroom. For an inventor, it was a good lesson.
Patents are both expensive to get and to protect.
Other costs Collier isn't married. And that's a big drawback, too. Being an inventor, I chose the career side of my life instead of the personal side. I have a lot of resentment over that because I'm not married and don't have any children. That may be my next project.