Not quite. Look at all those ads in the back for patents, patent attorneys, and related services. Back then, the big thing was to be an inventor with patents. Tesla, Edison, Bell, DeForest, etc. all had strong patent protection.
How many people violated Tesla's patents? It's all in the character of the person not in whats written on paper. Tesla didn't care what you did with his stuff so long as you weren't an outright dick and you were attempting to learn something.
Google the quote "Marconi is a good fellow. Let him continue. He is using seventeen of my patents." for more back story.
Both coexisted. There was a community actively sharing knowledge, and a bunch of people trying to pursue patents. And a patent itself was intended to be a compromise between openness and monopoly.
